How To Treat Children With Asthma?

What Is Asthma?

Asthma is a lung condition that can make your respiratory airways inflamed, narrow, cause reversible airflow obstruction, and produce extra mucus, which causes difficulty in breathing. As per the medical studies and surveys, asthma affects around 18.4 million adults and 6.2 million children in the United States.

In childhood asthma, the lungs and airways are very sensitive to certain triggers. They get easily inflamed when exposed to the dust, by inhaling pollen, exposure to the smoke, strong fragrances, on catching a cold, or due to other respiratory infections.

What Are The Causes Of Asthma?

The causes of childhood asthma are not yet fully understood. Some factors are thought to be involved are described below.

1. Environmental Factors:

Many environmental factors have been associated with the occurrence of asthma. Some of the risk factors are dust, some kinds of allergens, pollens, air pollution, and exposure to the pesticides. Some kind of indoor allergens is also a strong factor which includes dust mites, animal dander, and mold. Perfumes and deodorants are common causes of acute attacks of asthma in women and children.

2. Respiratory Infections:

Certain viral respiratory infections, such as respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus, when affect kids may make them suffer from asthma, as young children may experience an increased risk of developing asthma.

If we are talking about the strongest risk factor, history of atopic disease comes first which include atopic eczema, allergic rhinitis, or hay fever.

3. Genetics:

A family history of asthma is also a risk factor for childhood asthma. Parents with asthma or any allergic reaction may increase the risk factor for the occurrence of asthma in their children.

4. Others:

Prolonged use of certain medications, such as acetaminophen (paracetamol), antibiotics, and others, in early life, can lead to the development of asthma.

Sometimes, asthma symptoms occur with no apparent triggers.

Signs & Symptoms Of Childhood Asthma

Some common childhood asthma signs and symptoms are listed below.

• Frequent coughing which worsens when there is a viral infection.
• Wheezing sound when breathing out
• Shortness of breath
• Chest congestion and tightness
• Trouble in sleeping due to shortness of breath
• Troubled breathing that hampers play or exercise or any physical activities
• Fatigue

Symptoms of Asthma are usually worse at night or in the early morning.

We treat patients from USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE & 180 more countries. Get an expert opinion on your ailment, click here to ask Dr. Shah’s team directly.

How To Treat Asthma?

The most effective treatment for childhood asthma is identifying triggers, such as dust, pets, strong fragrances, or aspirin, and eliminating the exposure to them. If trigger avoidance is insufficient, the use of medication is recommended.

Conventional Approach

Specific medications to treat childhood asthma are broadly classified into long-acting and fast-acting categories.

Short-acting beta-adrenoceptor agonists, such as Salbutamol, are the first line of treatment for childhood asthma. They quickly help in dilating swollen airways. Oral and IV corticosteroids also help in giving quick relief to the patient.

Long-acting medications help in alleviating the inflammation in your child’s airways, which otherwise leads to the discomforting asthma symptoms. In most cases, these medications need to be taken daily. These include inhaled corticosteroids, combination inhalers, immunomodulatory agents, and other medications.

The long-term use of these medications has been associated with a slightly slowed growth in children and has the risks of possible side-effects.

Homeopathic Approach

Homeopathy is best suited for children with asthma, as it does not hamper their overall growth or alter their immunity. It works by moderating your immune system, which usually becomes over-reactive in asthma.

Just controlling the symptoms will not cure asthma for a long time span, because the hypersensitive immune system will again react adversely when the child will get exposed to those allergens. So, for long-term relief, it is highly required to modify the hypersensitive immune system to a normal functioning immune system which is best offered by proper homeopathic medicines.

Home remedies along with homeopathic medicines will give the best overall result to the affected child not only to control his/her asthma symptoms but also to boost up his/her immunity without any adverse effects.

Also Read: Top 5 Homeopathic Remedies for Asthma

So, if you have a child with asthma, you can go for homeopathy treatment for childhood asthma without a second thought to treat it effectively and safely without any side-effects.

Written by Dr. Renuka M, Associate doctor to Dr. Rajesh Shah