Asthma

What is Asthma?

Asthma is inflammation in the lungs that causes trouble breathing. The inflammation can be caused many different things - allergies, illness, smoke, and smog are examples.

Air moves into the lungs through airways, like hallways. In children, the airways are small, so a little bit of inflammation blocks a lot of air movement.

Muscles on the outside of the airways will squeeze down to keep germs and other irritating things out of the lungs. If the airways have more inflammation, as they do with asthma, the muscle start to overreact.

The test that doctors use to diagnose asthma requires kids to breathe as hard as they can through a tube, like a really big straw, without taking their lips off the tube even a little bit. This is a really hard test for older kids, and impossible for little kids.

If young children show signs of inflammation in the airways, and irritated airway muscles, doctors may diagnose them with “Reactive Airway Disease”, until they are old enough to take the breathing test.

Treating Asthma

When a patient with asthma has trouble breathing, it is called an asthma exacerbation or asthma attack. Asthma is treated with 2 main types of medicine: bronchodilator and steroids. Sometimes, these medicines are given while a patient is well to prevent an attack.

Albuterol is a bronchodilator. It’s job is to relax the irritated muscles around the airways. Albuterol can be given with a nebulizer machine or with a pump called an inhaler. It can be given as often as needed, but patients should be seen by a doctor if albuterol doesn’t provide at least 4 hours of relief.

Steroids can be given with a nebulizer machine, inhaler pump, or a medicine the patient swallows (liquid or pill). Doctors decide which medicine would be best, and how long the steroid needs to be taken.

Sometimes, a child might need to see a specialist about their asthma. This might be a pulmonologist (a lung doctor) or an asthma and allergy specialist.