Ellen Campbell -Grizzle - PHARMACY TODAYCHILDREN WHO have asthma sometimes cannot breathe freely. Normally when we breathe, the muscles that are wrapped around the air tubes are loose and relaxed and the lining inside the airway is thin. This allows the airway to open up very wide so that air gets easily in and out of the lung's air sacs.
During an asthma attack, the muscles around the airways tighten, the lining inside the airways swell or thicken and become clogged up with thick mucous. This makes it hard to breathe. Actually during an asthma attack, it is harder to breathe out than in. More and more air gets trapped inside the lungs, making it feel like you can't breathe in or out. One child has described his feeling like 'a fish out of water'.
The first symptoms of asthma often appear early in life but they are sometimes hard to spot. Many asthmatic children cough and wheeze, especially at nights. Others suffer from congestion, tightness of the chess or rapid breathing. Most have allergies and are born with the tendency to react negatively to substances such as animal droppings, pollen, dust mites and cigarette smoke. Other common triggers that cause attacks infections like colds or bronchitis and changes in the weather. Your doctor will do the necessary examinations and tests to make the correct diagnosis.
Parents of asthmatic children need to take an open and honest approach in educating them about their illness. Watching any child stifle is a terrifying experience. However, it is important to communicate to your child that asthma can be kept under control. Make sure that you:-
Manage each attack calmly and your child will follow suit.
Tell your child's teachers about the illness so that they can help.
Use peak flow meters to measure the strength of breathing. These devices are very good early warning systems. Peak flow readings fall before the child shows symptoms of an attack. Take readings every morning to determine how much air is getting into your child's lungs and how well treatment is working.
Children can assume greater responsibility for their illness as they grow. Toddlers understand very little about their illness but you can mimic treatment for them on a stuffed toy. Use pictures to teach preschoolers about how their lungs work and the problems associated with triggers. Help them to find words to describe their symptoms.
School-age children can do peak flow monitoring and take medication with supervision. They are able to alert parents to early onset of asthma symptoms. Parents must allow teenagers independence in taking care of their illness, however, keep your eyes open for poor illness control. Some adolescents may minimise symptoms and avoid taking medication in front of their peers in order to 'fit in'.
Asthma can be deadly if left untreated. Medicines work in different ways to help people who are asthmatic. Bronchodilators make the muscles around the airways relax, corticosteroids and similar drugs ease swelling and inflammation inside the airways and reduce the number of attacks; drugs like cromolyn sodium prevent asthma attacks from starting. Your doctor will prescribe the best treatment for your child.
Smart care of children with asthma leads to normal and productive lives. Parents and other care givers can limit the frequency, severity and expense of asthma management through regular monitoring, control of aggravating factors and proper use of medicines. If you want to know more about medicines that control and prevent asthma attacks and the proper use of peak flow meters, ask your pharmacist, you have the right to know!
Ellen Campbell Grizzle , President, The Caribbean Association of Pharmacists (CAP) and Director, Information & Research, National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA).
