Know the Common Triggers
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways – the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. If your child has asthma, the inside walls of her airways become sore and swollen. In the U.S., about 20 million people have asthma. Nearly 9 million of them are children.
Children have smaller airways than adults, which makes asthma especially serious for them. Children with asthma may experience wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing, especially early in the morning or at night. Many things can cause asthma, including:
- Allergens: mold, pollen, animals
- Irritants: cigarette smoke, air pollution
- Weather: cold air, changes in weather
- Exercise
- Infections: flu, common cold
When asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it is called an asthma attack. Asthma is treated with two kinds of medicines: quick-relief medicines to stop asthma symptoms and long-term control medicines to prevent symptoms.
Talk with your child’s doctor about creating an asthma action plan. Learn the best ways to keep asthma under control so that it has less effect on your child’s daily activities and so that asthma attacks occur less frequently.
– Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine
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