Asthma in children
What is asthma?
If your child has asthma, the tubes in his or her lungs become swollen and narrow. This makes it difficult to breathe.
Even in very mild asthma, inflammation (swelling) occurs in the airways. Preventing inflammation in the lungs with drugs helps
to keep asthma under control.
- About 1 in 7 children in the United States are diagnosed with asthma at some time during their childhood.
Source:
National Center for Health Statistics
Fast stats A to Z. Asthma.
Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm (accessed on 9 May 2008).
1 - Up to three-quarters of children with asthma grow out of it.
Source:
Kelly WJ, Hudson I, Phelan PD, et al.
Childhood asthma in adult life: a further study at 28 years of age.
BMJ Clinical Research Edition. 1987; 294: 1059-1062.
2 - Children with mild asthma are most likely to grow out of it.
Source:
Sears MR.
Growing up with asthma.
British Medical Journal. 1994; 309: 72-73.
3 - There are lots of medications that can help prevent symptoms and ease them when they happen.
- You can also reduce asthma symptoms by learning what triggers your child's asthma and avoiding these if you can.
The lungs sit in the center of your chest, behind your ribs. Their main job is to get oxygen from the air into your body.
Your blood vessels carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Every cell in your body needs oxygen to work.
Oxygen passes into your blood through tiny air sacs in your lungs.
- When you breathe in, air goes into your lungs.
- The main tube that goes from your throat to your lungs is called your windpipe (or trachea).
- Your windpipe divides into two tubes called bronchi (each individual tube is called a bronchus).
- Inside each lung, the air moves down a network of tubes called bronchioles.
- At the end of each tube are tiny sacs (called alveoli) surrounded in blood vessels.
- Oxygen in the air passes through these sacs and into the blood vessels.
- Carbon dioxide passes the other way back into your lungs. This is a waste product that you get rid of when you breathe out.
If your child has asthma, they can't always breathe normally. The tubes inside their lungs get narrower, so they can't get
enough air in and out of their lungs. This can make your child gasp for breath. Or it might make them cough or wheeze.
In asthma, tubes in the lungs (bronchioles) become narrower.
To learn more, see What are the symptoms of asthma in children?
Three things happen in the lungs to make the air passages narrower:
- Muscles in the wall of the airways get tighter
- The walls of the airways become swollen
- Mucus is released into the airways, partially blocking them.
- The
genes
Your genes are the parts of your cells that contain instructions for how your body works. Genes are housed on chromosomes, structures that sit in the nucleus at the middle of each of your cells. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in your normal cells, each of which has thousands of genes. You get one set of chromosomes, and all of the genes that are on them, from each of your parents.genes children inherit from their parents (asthma often runs in families) - An infection or things in the air. For example, your child might have first got asthma when they had a cold or chest infection. Or they might be allergic to certain things in the air. These things are called allergens. Common allergens are pollen, house dust mite droppings, mold, and bits of fur and skin from pets.
immune system
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.
It might be that the thing that first gave your child asthma symptoms (for example, dog hair) always brings on asthma symptoms.
Or you might find that other things give your child symptoms as well.
Things that can bring on your child's asthma symptoms are called triggers. It's useful to know what triggers set off your
child's symptoms. If your child can avoid some of these triggers, they might be able to prevent asthma symptoms from happening.
The most common triggers are:
- Allergens
- Smoke and air pollution
- Exercise
- Other illnesses (such as a cold).
Pollen grains can cause symptoms.
Some children are more likely to get asthma than others. Things that increase someone's chances of getting a condition are
called risk factors. The most important risk factor for asthma in children is having asthma in their family.
If a child has a parent or close relative with asthma, they'll be more likely to get it, too.
4
Source:
McFadden ER Jr.
Asthma: Diseases of the respiratory system.
In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al (editors). Harrison's principles of internal medicine, volume 2. 15th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A,; 2001.
McFadden ER Jr.
Asthma: Diseases of the respiratory system.
In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al (editors). Harrison's principles of internal medicine, volume 2. 15th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A,; 2001.
Diseases run in families because of
genes that are passed from parents to their children. But there is no single gene that causes asthma. It happens because of a combination
of many different genes. Some of these genes change the way your
immune system works. But we don't know how these genes work together to cause asthma.
5
genes
Your genes are the parts of your cells that contain instructions for how your body works. Genes are housed on chromosomes, structures that sit in the nucleus at the middle of each of your cells. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in your normal cells, each of which has thousands of genes. You get one set of chromosomes, and all of the genes that are on them, from each of your parents.
Your genes are the parts of your cells that contain instructions for how your body works. Genes are housed on chromosomes, structures that sit in the nucleus at the middle of each of your cells. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in your normal cells, each of which has thousands of genes. You get one set of chromosomes, and all of the genes that are on them, from each of your parents.
immune system
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.
Source:
Lemanske RF Jr, Busse WW.
Asthma.
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2003; 111: 502-519.
Lemanske RF Jr, Busse WW.
Asthma.
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2003; 111: 502-519.
There are other risk factors for children getting asthma. To learn more, see Who's at risk?
Many babies and young children get wheezy from time to time, especially if they've got a cold or are just getting over one.
For children under about 5 or 6 years old, it can be difficult for doctors to know whether wheezing is caused by asthma or
a virus. Your doctor will want to be sure about what's causing the wheezing so that your child doesn't take medications he
or she doesn't need. And it's also important for doctors not to miss when children have asthma, as this can be dangerous.
Often, if a young child has had several bouts of wheezing, doctors give them a "trial" of asthma medications. Your doctor
will check on your child every so often to make sure the treatment is the right one.
Many of the medications used to treat asthma have not been formally tested on young children. So, don't be surprised if your
doctor is very careful about prescribing some drugs for your child. He or she just wants to keep a close eye on what's going
on.
Sources for the information on this page:
- National Center for Health StatisticsFast stats A to Z. Asthma.Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm (accessed on 9 May 2008).
- Kelly WJ, Hudson I, Phelan PD, et al.Childhood asthma in adult life: a further study at 28 years of age.BMJ Clinical Research Edition. 1987; 294: 1059-1062.
- Sears MR.Growing up with asthma.British Medical Journal. 1994; 309: 72-73.
- McFadden ER Jr.Asthma: Diseases of the respiratory system.In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al (editors). Harrison's principles of internal medicine, volume 2. 15th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A,; 2001.
- Lemanske RF Jr, Busse WW.Asthma.Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2003; 111: 502-519.
This information was last updated on Jan 09, 2009
This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
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