Asthma is a chronic illness, and the long-term effect of these symptoms may have a profound impact on a child's quality of life at home and school. This topic, however, will examine a much more dramatic face of the disease-the asthma emergency that every parent fears as we follow Robert through his trip to the emergency room. Symptom flares can occur in any child with asthma and, if not managed successfully, can result in an unexpected trip to an emergency department. How to recognize and manage severe flares of asthma and gives an overview of emergency and hospital care. If you understand this information in advance and review it from time to time, any emergency can be handled more successfully and with less distress for you and your child.
Who Is At Risk For Asthma Emergencies?
Emergency visits, hospitalizations, and even deaths from asthma have all increased over recent decades, and the causes are not entirely clear. A major driving force is certainly the increase in overall asthma rates, which more than doubled from about 3 percent of American children in the 1980s to 7 percent today. But other factors also come into play: children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be hospitalized for asthma, possibly reflecting a lack of access to optimal medical care. Signs of poor asthma control, such as past severe flares and frequent albuterol use, have been linked to an increased risk of death from asthma.
The link between poor control and poor outcome suggests some good news about reducing the risk. Studies have shown marked reductions in emergency visits, hospitalizations, and mortality rates when asthma is brought under control with effective treatment. During the 1990s, great effort was devoted to developing new therapies and improving standards of care for asthma. These attempts appear to have had some success, as the most recent statistics show a leveling off in asthma hospitalizations nationwide.
When a childs asthma is under good control and the child is other wise healthy, there's no need for anxiety about an emergency lurking around the next comer. Children with asthma should be able to travel, go camping, and do all of the other things that are a normal part of growing up. With an appropriate management plan, most asthma flares can be managed without a visit to a hospital. When troubles arise, however, a healthy respect for asthma is appropriate. An important part of any plan is a recognition that things may not go as expected, so rapid, immediate care may be necessary.
When Is Asthma An Emergency?
Warning signs of a severe asthma flare vary for individual children. As you know, flares occur when a trigger increases inflammation in the airways of the lung. Research suggests that common colds and flu viruses trigger the great majority of severe flares, although conditions in the environment (such as smoke and allergens) can also be important triggers. Airway inflammation leads to increased mucus production and contraction ofthe muscles in the airway wall (bronchospasm). When the airways in the lung narrow, more work is needed to push out waste gases, such as carbon dioxide. The body's normal response to this airway obstruction is to increase its effort to breathe by using muscles between the ribs and in the neck, which may become more noticeable than usual, as Robert's parents observed in the middle of the night.
The chest and belly may move in opposite directions like a seesaw as muscles below the diaphragm help to move air up and out of the lungs. A child may stop doing other activities and sit up straight to focus on breathing. His rate of breathing will increase. He may become short of breath and able to speak only a few words at a time. Normal breathing rates vary by age and are displayed on the next page.
Signs like these indicate an important change in the child's condition and require immediate treatment with a quick-relief medicine such as albuterol. If these signs continue, it's time to begin the flare part of your management plan and call your doctor or nurse practitioner. If symptoms get worse despite this treatment, go to an emergency department.
With most children, particularly infants and toddlers, you can easily observe signs of severe airway obstruction. But other problems can occasionally mimic an asthma flare. In young infants, for example, a nose blocked with mucus can mimic wheezing. Clearing the nose with a suction bulb should resolve the breathing trouble. On the other hand, some children adjust to chronic obstruction of their airways and show few signs even when their condition becomes worse. This usually happens in children with a long history of poorly controlled asthma. For these children, obtaining an objective measurement of lung function by using a peak flow meter can be very helpful. A reduction in peak flow to less than 80 percent of a child's usual best measurement indicates moderate obstruction that should be treated with a quick-relief medicine such as albuterol. A reduction in peak flow to 50 percent of the child's usual best should be considered a severe obstruction that requires immediate evaluation. Hgh facts, articles, and news on HGH, weight loss.
