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Asthma in babies
Childhood asthma remains the most common chronic disease in children. 50% of children with asthma have a severe attack each year. How to recognize asthma in your baby?
What is asthma in children?
Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the bronchi, characterized by attacks of dyspnea (breathing difficulties) wheezing, indicating a sudden contraction of the muscles controlling the opening and closing of the bronchi.
An infant with asthma is a baby who has more than three episodes of wheezing before two years of age. Baby asthma can progress to childhood asthma when:
There is an eczema, for an allergic family land and that the allergic assessment is positive.
Most often it is a male baby with a family history of asthma. More than 10% of children are affected.
Symptoms of asthma:
The manifestations of asthma in children are the same as in adults, but they are even more difficult to diagnose because children have more difficulty describing their discomfort.
- Typical seizure with whistling
- Dry, nocturnal cough, occurring at night
- Cough after exercise
- Repeated bronchitis
- Shortness of breath
- Tiredness
- Difficulties walking, exertion …
Asthma attacks in children
In the event of an asthma attack, the doctor prescribes a bronchodilator, often ventoline® in a metered-dose inhaler, to help the child breathe better.
In the midst of a seizure, the child can take the bronchodilator again several minutes apart if the seizure has not stopped.
If asthma is caused by an allergy, it is advisable to avoid exposure to this allergen as much as possible and to take antihistamines if necessary or even perform desensitization.
In all cases, you must reassure the child, stay by his side, relax him and take him to a quiet place.
Consult urgently, dial 15 or 112 if mobile phone, in case of worsening of the manifestations and the appearance of signs of emergency.
Prevent asthma attacks
The first step in preventing asthma with a child with asthma is to watch their environment. The presence of allergens should be avoided as much as possible (tests make it possible to determine the allergens to which the child is most sensitive).
Preventing asthma is also synonymous with hunting mites (present in bedding and carpet), pollens, feathers or animal hair (cat hair in particular), but also cigarette smoke! (see our article “Respiratory allergies”).
To help you prevent asthma, the doctor may refer you to a pediatrician and / or an asthma school. These establishments provide the keys to living better with the disease and preventing possible asthma attacks. Little by little, the family will learn to recognize the signs of an attack and to treat it effectively.
Asthma is for life?
Know thatno treatment can permanently cure asthma. On the other hand, today they allow many children with asthma to live normally!
Asthma, when it is not associated with an allergic ground, tends to improve in the first ten years of life, but does not go away in all children.
On the other hand, asthma with allergic ground is considered as a significant fragility of the bronchi, registered in the genes : these children keep the disease all their life. In most cases, after months or even years of DMARDs, children can stop these treatments. But asthma can come back, sometimes years later.