There are 300 million asthma patients worldwide, and the prevalence of childhood asthma in developed countries is higher than 10%, and the prevalence of childhood asthma in China is increasing year by year. But how to care for children with asthma? Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways involving mast cells, eosinophils, lymphocytes and other cells, and is the most common chronic respiratory disease in childhood. There are 300 million asthma patients worldwide, and the prevalence of childhood asthma in developed countries is higher than 10%.
An epidemiological survey in 27 cities in China showed that the prevalence of childhood asthma increased from 0.91% to 1.5% in the 10 years from 1990 to 2000. During the same period, a survey in Shanghai showed that the prevalence of asthma in children under 12 years of age increased from 1.9% to 3.34%.
As the morbidity and mortality of asthma is increasing globally year by year, controlling acute asthma attacks in children has become a global public health concern.
Signs and symptoms of asthma
A typical asthma attack may present with recurrent wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness, often occurring or worsening at night and/or early in the morning. A scattered or diffuse, expiratory-phase croup may be heard in both lungs during an attack. Some children often have aura symptoms such as nasal congestion, sneezing, and itchy eyes before an asthma attack.
Acute asthma attacks may present with forward bowing of the body position, dyspnea, difficulty speaking, and in severe cases, confusion, drowsiness, slowed or irregular breathing rate, paradoxical chest and abdominal movements, and hypoxic cyanosis. When hypopnea and croup disappears on lung auscultation, it is a sign of critical condition and can lead to respiratory arrest at any time and direct death due to respiratory failure.
Cough variant asthma is a type of asthma in which cough is the only symptom or the main manifestation, and it is not accompanied by significant wheezing. The cough usually lasts >4 weeks, often attacks or worsens at night and/or early in the morning, is predominantly dry, has no clinical signs of infection, and is ineffective with antibiotic therapy.
Triggers of asthma
The factors affecting the development of asthma in children are diverse; the most relevant ones are changes in the living environment, increased allergen exposure and genetic susceptibility, but genetics is by no means the only trigger for asthma, much less can it explain the marked increase in asthma prevalence in recent years.
With the development of industrialized society, global air, water and soil pollution is becoming more and more serious, and there are more and more chemicals in food and daily household products, which are extremely unfavorable for asthma-prone children. These latent hidden factors are very likely to cause airway hyperreactivity and eventually lead to asthma attacks in children.
Asthma medication and follow-up
Asthma is a chronic disease that requires long-term, continuous, standardized, individualized treatment and self-management. Parents’ compliance with treatment is often reduced due to various subjective factors such as insufficient knowledge of asthma, fear of adverse effects of inhaled hormone therapy, low ability to bear the cost of disease treatment, and poor control of disease due to incomplete mastery of inhaled therapy, which will not only delay the treatment of asthmatic children but also affect their survival. This not only delays the treatment of children with asthma and affects the quality of life of children with asthma, but also causes long-term airway inflammation and recurrent asthma attacks, which greatly increases the economic expenses of families.
Home care for asthma
Most asthma attacks are related to exposure to allergens, cold air, physical and chemical stimuli, emotional changes, respiratory infections and exercise.
①Keep indoor air fresh, circulating, free of irritating odors and cigarette smoke.
②For positive allergens identified by allergen spotting or serological testing, desensitization should be performed according to medical advice.
③Reduce the exposure to allergens.
④Appropriate physical activities should be performed during the remission period to enhance physical fitness, such as swimming, basketball, jogging, etc., 30-60 minutes per time, one day per week.
⑤For babies who are susceptible to cold air or hazy weather, wear masks at the right time, use air evaporators indoors, and learn to detect the precursors of respiratory infections early to achieve early detection and treatment.
(6) Keep abreast of the psychological status of asthmatic babies, comfort and encourage them, and eliminate tension and anxiety.
(7) Insist on home nebulizer inhalation treatment and regular follow-up.