If your child has asthma, take time to learn about the disease and how it’s successfully treated. More than 55,000 children in Dallas County have asthma and it continues to be the No. 1 admitting diagnosis made at Children’s each year.
   A frequent or lingering cough, particularly at night or after running; frequent respiratory infections, wheezing, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest – if any of these seem to happen with some regularity to your child, talk to your healthcare provider. They could be symptoms of asthma, or perhaps some other serious condition that could benefit from treatment.  

 Asthma management program
   The Asthma Management Program at Children’s was the first in Texas to receive certification by the Joint Commission for disease-specific care for pediatric asthma. The goal of the program is for patients to achieve a significant reduction in exacerbations and improved quality of life through proactive self-management. Analysis of patients who have completed the six-month program indicates a significant increase in Asthma Specific Quality of Life scores.
   “Asthma is common and can be severe. Fortunately, there are treatments that can keep it under control and manage the symptoms," said Dr. William Neaville, an allergy and immunology specialist on the medical staff at Children’s and assistant professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern.
   When asthma isn’t controlled, children miss school and may give up sports and other daily activities. Each year 14 million days of school are missed because of asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   When this chronic disease is well managed, however, children with the condition can do just about any kind of activity.

Understanding asthma
   The following information can help you help your child live a full, long life, despite a diagnosis of asthma.
   Asthma is inflammation and swelling in the airways that carry air to and from the lungs. In a person with asthma, the airways overreact to the things that can irritate them or that can cause an allergic response.
   The airways react to these “triggers” by becoming more narrow, the muscles surrounding the airways tighten and the airways begin to produce more mucus than usual. All these factors combined make breathing more difficult and bring on other symptoms, such as coughing or wheezing.
   The symptoms may seem harmless. For example, your child may have a lingering chest cold or a cough that takes more than 10 days to subside.
   Untreated asthma can lead to serious complications. In a severe attack, breathing may be so impaired that oxygen levels in the body fall drastically, sometimes enough to cause death.

Learning about triggers
Experts don’t know for sure what causes the underlying inflammation of asthma. It’s clear; however, that certain allergens and irritants commonly trigger asthma attacks.
Allergens are substances that cause allergic reactions in some people but not others. About half of all people with asthma have allergic asthma. Allergens commonly include:

• Pollen from trees, grass and weeds
• Animal dander
• Dust mites found in pillows, mattresses and carpets
• Cockroach debris
• Indoor or outdoor mold

   Irritants are substances that can cause the muscles around the airways to constrict in some people, leading to an asthma attack. Common irritants include:

• Cold air
• Rapid changes in temperature
• Chemicals, including those found in air pollution, cigarette smoke, perfumes, gasoline, paint thinner and cleaning products
• Particulates, including those found in cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust, smog and air pollution

   Exercise also can bring on an acute asthma attack in many children, as can emotional stress and some types of viral infections.

Treating the condition
If your child is diagnosed with asthma, try to learn as much as you can about it and work with your child's physician to keep it under control.
   Your child's doctor will tell you how to:

• Monitor your child’s condition. Your child may be asked to use a hand-held peak flow meter to measure his or her lung function and see how well the asthma is being controlled.
• Identify and avoid your child’s personal triggers. No child with asthma should be around secondhand tobacco smoke. It’s a good idea to have your child remain indoors as much as possible when air pollution is high or when winds are high and carrying a lot of dust.
• In addition, if your child is allergic to the family pet, your options are to keep it out of your child’s bedroom, to wash it more often or to find a new home for the animal. Dust mites can be controlled by frequently washing bed linens, blankets and stuffed toys in hot water and using dust-proof mattress and pillow covers.
• Have your child take appropriate medications. “If avoiding the allergens doesn’t work, allergy medications or allergy shots can be helpful remedies,” Dr. Neaville said. Controller medications are taken daily over a long period of time to treat the underlying inflammation.
• Most people with asthma need a minimum of two medications: one to reduce inflammation (called an anti-inflammatory) and one to help maintain open airways (called a bronchodilator). Depending on the medication, it may be inhaled, taken by mouth or given with a nebulizer (a device that delivers medication as a mist that a young child can inhale through a mask).
• Rescue medications offer a fast-acting, short-term easing of lung muscle spasms to address the immediate symptoms. People with allergic asthma have additional options.

Resources
Children’s Medical Center