Thursday, February 12, 2009

Asthma Guidelines - What Every Parent Needs To Know

By Kurt Roeseco

There are around seven million children in the US alone who have asthma. Shockingly, over one million of these children are less than five years old! Asthma can cause children to miss school and have a serious negative impact on health. The symptoms of asthma include shortness of breath, wheezing and a sensation of tightness in the chest.

Everyone experiences asthma attacks in varying degrees of severity. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program update asthma guidelines. They are a means for parents and children to find ways to control their asthma.

The asthma guidelines are used by doctors as they help children manage their asthma. The course of treatment used can vary from child to child depending on how severe their symptoms are. Your physician will also check up on how well your childs medication is controlling their asthma.

If the child in question starts to improve, the physician may begin lowering the dosage of their asthma medication in the interests of being able to take the child off of medication. However, if the childs symptoms become more severe, than either an increase in the dosage or a change of medication is called for.

The asthma guidelines set out goals for the treatment of childhood asthma. If the course of treatment is not successful in meeting these goals, then the physician will adjust the regimen of treatment. One of the things which the doctor will look for is if your childs asthma is preventing them from attending school or playing with their peers.

They will also look to see if the child is having any side affects from the medications. They will be looking to see if the child is exhibiting any symptoms during the day or night after they have been put on medication. This allows them to be able to gage if the treatment is controlling the asthma attacks.

There are different classifications of childhood asthma laid out in the asthma guidelines. One classification is mild intermittent, meaning that the child has symptoms no more than twice a week. The next most serious classification is mild persistent, where the child displays symptoms more than twice a week, perhaps daily.

The next classification is moderate persistent, meaning that there are daily symptoms and the highest level is severe persistent. This classification indicates daily and nightly symptoms of asthma. If your child suffers from asthma, you should discuss their health and the asthma classifications with your physician.

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