Pediatric asthma is a common disease, also called pediatric allergic asthma, because of the presence of hyperresponsiveness in the patient’s airways, which can be triggered by exposure to environmental allergens, infections, and manifests as recurrent episodes of wheezing, dyspnea, chest tightness or coughing, which can have a serious impact on the patient’s work, life and school, and even physical and mental health if the episodes are frequent or not treated properly.
Asthma does not always have obvious wheezing symptoms
”Childhood asthma starts before the age of 3 and is common in school-age children.” Winter, winter and spring, and spring when there is a lot of pollen, are the seasons when childhood asthma is at its peak.
”In recent years, the incidence of childhood asthma has tended to increase year by year.” This is related to environmental factors such as air. The main causes of pediatric asthma are.
1, genetic allergies some children have eczema, allergic rhinitis or a history of allergies to food and drugs; some children’s parents, relatives have allergic rhinitis, dermatitis, hives, children are also more likely to get asthma.
2.Environmental factors allergy to pollen, drugs, cold air, smell (disinfectant water, decoration smell, perfume, etc.).
3, Infection induced such as a cold that has been dragged on and not cured, causing asthma.
4.Eating cold drinks and other irritating foods frequently is more likely to induce asthma.
5, other factors such as excessive emotional excitement or strenuous exercise can also induce asthma to varying degrees.
It is worth noting that asthma in children does not necessarily manifest as wheezing, some children may only have symptoms of recurrent cough; it may also be accompanied by symptoms of allergic rhinitis such as itchy nose and runny nose, so they always rub their nose and pick their nose; some children may also have irritating dry cough, little sputum and recurrent cough when stimulated by odors. Because asthma and allergic rhinitis are strongly correlated and belong to the same disease in the same whistle, that is why many times asthma is treated along with rhinitis. Older children, on the other hand, tend to present with recurrent chest tightness. These can be signs of an asthma attack, so parents must take their children to the doctor promptly if they have any of these symptoms.
Asthma treatment should not be stopped or reduced at will
The treatment of asthma is divided into the acute phase and the remission phase, and the principle of treatment is to treat the symptoms if it is urgent, and to treat the root cause if it is slow. “We put more emphasis on the treatment of the remission period, and only by improving the physical condition of the child can we treat asthma more effectively.” Professor Wang Tao said that in clinical practice, parents are prone to a misconception that if their children don’t cough or wheeze anymore, they can stop taking medication.
Asthma is difficult to treat for several reasons: first, whether it can be diagnosed and treated early, and generally the later it is detected, the longer it takes to treat; second, many parents let their children use medication with stop and go, leading to repeated conditions and more likely to aggravate lung function damage. It should be clear that asthma treatment is a long-term process, with the shortest treatment time being six months and the longest being several years or even a lifetime, and the older the child is, the more difficult it is to treat.
Although asthma cannot be cured at present, long-term standardized treatment can enable most patients to achieve good or complete clinical control. The goal of asthma treatment is to control symptoms and prevent the occurrence of future risks in the long term, that is, to enable patients to live, study and work like normal people on the basis of treatment with or without the least effective dose of medication.
Prevention and treatment of asthma, Chinese medicine management is more advantageous
Some patients can find the allergens or other non-specific irritants that cause asthma attacks, and removing the patient from and avoiding exposure to these risk factors for a long time is the most effective way to prevent and treat asthma.
In addition to following medical advice and not using medication at will, it is also important to focus on improving the physical fitness of the affected child and strengthening resistance in general. Chinese medicine has unique advantages in improving the physical condition. According to Chinese medicine, most children with asthma have congenital deficiencies, acquired disorders, weak body, loose couples, the body is not solid, can not adapt to the external climate and environmental changes, easy for external evil attack, external evil attack first injured the lungs, if repeated attacks, gas and yin are injured, can spread to the spleen and kidneys. If the spleen is deficient, the transportation and transformation will be imbalanced, and phlegm will accumulate and become phlegm, which will block the airway and cause adverse inhalation; the kidney is the root of the innate nature, which is the main organ that receives qi.
Therefore, “Zheng deficiency” is the main contradiction of the disease, and is also the main basis for diagnosis.
(1) Lung and spleen qi deficiency: symptoms include: recurrent colds, shortness of breath, sweating, coughing, laziness, fatigue, dullness, less florid face, pale tongue with thin white coating and thin pulse. The treatment should be to strengthen the spleen and benefit the qi, tonify the lung and consolidate the surface, and the formula should be chosen from the oral solution of Vifuluo (the main ingredients are: astragalus, yam, poria, licorice, etc.) or Yu Ping Feng San or Liu Jun Zi Tang with addition and subtraction.
(2) Lung and kidney Yang deficiency: symptoms: shortness of breath when moving, cough, palpitations, white face, cold body and limbs, weakness of the waist and legs, dullness, abdominal distension, loose stools, nocturnal urination, pale tongue with thin white fur and weak pulse. The treatment is to strengthen the spleen and warm the kidney, and to consolidate the qi. The formula is Jin Kui Kidney Qi Wan (main ingredients: yam, poria, peony peel, etc.) plus reduction.
(3) Lung and kidney yin deficiency: symptoms: coughing and wheezing, dry cough or sputum with little sputum, emaciation, flushing, hot flush and night sweating, dry mouth and throat, heat in the heart of the hands and feet, constipation, red tongue with little coating and fine pulse. Treatment is to nourish Yin and clear heat, tonify the lungs and kidneys, and the formula is Liu Wei Di Huang Wan (Shu Di Huang, wine cornelian meat, peony skin, yam, poria, and zedoary) plus reduction.
Clinically, the herbs used to regulate or treat asthma are more effective, such as Radix et Rhizoma Ginseng, Radix Astragali, Rhizoma Yam, Poria, Glycyrrhiza Glabra, Atractylodes Macrocephala, etc., i.e., the condition of children with asthma can be significantly improved and the number of attacks can be reduced after about six months to one year of treatment. By taking them consistently, the disease can be controlled and the patient can lead a normal life like everyone else.