What Triggers Asthma in Your Child?
First, you need to know what actually triggers the asthma. Pay attention to common symptoms, such as: coughing, sneezing, wheezing, complaints of tightness in the chest, tiredness, or irritability. Note when they are occurring. Is your child playing outside? Is it spring or winter? Even respiratory infections and colds or exposure to cold air or sudden temperature change can bring about an attack or exacerbate symptoms. Is he playing inside? Do you have an air purifier? Is she around someone who is smoking? (Educate your child’s adult friends and relatives now about the dangers of second-hand smoke and asthma.)
The preceding environments (pollen, dust, smoking) are some of the most common triggers for asthma. Another kind of asthma is known as Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA). Vigorous exercise is known to bring about an attack. But, most children can participate fully in sports and P.E. when they are healthy. Did you know that Olympic Gold medalist Jackie Joyner Kersee, football player Art Monk, and basketball celebrity Dennis Rodman all suffer from asthma? Even Ludwig Von Beethoven was believed to have had the disease. In EIA patients, asthma usually only worsens when the person is being active. Allergies, such as pollens and dust, often do not affect the condition.
Now, just because your child has asthma, doesn’t mean they are limited to what they can do. The simplest steps to creating a healthier childhood for your son or daughter may begin with their environment. Limit your child’s exposure to the things that trigger their asthma. If your child cannot tolerate cigarette smoke and allergens such as pollen, mold, animal dander, feathers, dust, food and cockroaches, alter the environment and notice the results. Adding a home air-purifier to your child’s room or rooms he uses can improve the air quality inside. Changing filters regularly on heating and cooling systems eliminates allergens trapped in these materials.
You may notice that, if your child has asthma, it bothers him more at night. This may be due to several reasons. One, allergic reactions to pollens and dust during the day take longer to show up. Two, airways may constrict due to lying down. Three, medication taken during the day may start to wear off after midnight. Most asthma symptoms worsen in children between 2 and 4 a.m.
In order to be most helpful to your child, maybe you need to know more about the respiratory system itself.
Here’s a primer on how the lungs function. The lungs are the main organs of the Respiratory System. The main function of the respiratory system is to supply the blood with oxygen so that the blood can deliver oxygen to all parts of our body. When we breathe, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. This is an exchange of gases. It is the respiratory system’s way of getting oxygen to the blood.
Oxygen enters the respiratory system through the mouth and the nose. It passes through the larynx and the trachea. Then it enters the chest cavity. In the chest, the trachea splits into two smaller tubes called the bronchi. Each bronchus then divides again forming the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes lead directly into the lungs where they divide into many smaller tubes, which connect to tiny sacs called alveoli. (Imagine two large oak trees standing side by side in winter, with no leaves.)
You have nearly 600 million of these tiny air sacs. They are surrounded by capillaries, which are the tiniest blood vessels. When you inhale, oxygen passes into the alveoli, through the capillaries, and into the arterial blood. At the same time, the oxygen-less blood enters the veins and releases carbon dioxide into the alveoli. The carbon dioxide follows the same path out of the lungs when you exhale. (Hyperventilation and dizziness are a result of this carbon-dioxide rich blood not getting out quickly enough.)
The diaphragm is the respiratory system’s muscle. It is a layer of muscles that lies across the bottom of the chest cavity. Its job is to help pump the carbon dioxide out of the lungs and bring the oxygen in. As the diaphragm contracts and relaxes, breathing takes place. When the diaphragm contracts, oxygen is pulled into the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes, carbon dioxide is pumped out of the lungs.
You can see, that if the lungs are not working well, it makes it pretty difficult to get oxygen-rich blood to them.
Want to know more about medications for asthma? How can retraining your lungs improve your asthma? Please read my other articles: “Inhaled Steroids for Asthma and Their Deadly Side Effects” and”Asthma: simple, breathing exercises for your child”.
