Children and asthma

What are the symptoms of asthma?

 The usual symptoms of asthma in children are:

• wheezing, or a whistling noise in the chest
• getting short of breath
• coughing, particularly at night and after exercise
• feeling tight in the chest – sometimes children will describe this as their chest hurting or even a tummy ache.

Asthma symptoms may not be present all the time and may come and go. With the right medicines, taken properly and as prescribed, your child should be able to lead a full life without symptoms. However, asthma is a serious condition, and if not treated properly can lead to asthma attacks, which can be life threatening.



Diagnosing asthma

There isn’t a single test your child can take to tell if they have asthma. To help make a diagnosis, your doctor or nurse will do a number of things. They will ask about your child’s symptoms, and might ask you to keep a record of them along with what seems to make them better or worse.

The doctor or nurse may also listen to your child’s chest to find out if there are any wheezy sounds. If you child is old enough, they may use a peak flow meter to measure how well their lungs are working.

Asthma is more likely to be diagnosed if your child has more than one of the typical symptoms (coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest tightness), particularly if these are:

• frequent
• worse at night or early in the morning
• in response to a trigger
• when your child doesn’t have a cold.

Children under the age of two 

If your child is under the age of two it’s difficult to tell if they have asthma because:

• nearly one-third of very young children will have wheezing at some point. Over time, most of them will stop wheezing as their airways grow; however for others early wheezing can be a sign they will get asthma in later childhood or adult life.
• it isn’t easy to measure how well a young child’s lungs are working. A peak flow meter is used for older children, but is unsuitable for children under the age of six.

Asthma is a lifelong condition, but it shouldn't stop your child leading a full and active life if you learn how to manage it and we've used leading experts to draw together all the information you'll need as your child grows up with asthma, whether you want to know about medicines, controlling your child's asthma through an action plan, preventing attacks and what to tell your child's school, nursery or friends. There are also plenty of free resources available to order.

We have a lively discussion forum, where you can chat and share experiences and concerns with other people in similar situations.

source : http://www.asthma.org.uk/advice-children-and-asthma

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