Canadian researchers have found that when parents and children were given a detailed medication plan by the doctor, and not just a regular prescription, they showed better compliance of the plan they were prescribed.

The study participants who received a detailed plan, showed a very significant improvement in the patterns of consumption of medications.

The structured communication that detailed the short term as well as a long term plan was seen to make the difference according to the researchers.

Proper consumption of the prescribed medication is really important, even when actual symptoms are absent, because not doing this can cause permanent damage to the respiratory tracts.

Another facet of helping children manage their asthma and helping them lead fuller, better lives is teaching them proper inhaler using technique.

A study had shown that only one in four children actually use their inhaler correctly. So if only 25% kids pass the inhaler test, there is clearly room for improvement here.

The problem, it was found, was that health care providers often did not demonstrate to the kids, how an inhaler is to be used.

However, according to researchers, it is important not only for the health care worker to give a live demonstration to a child about the correct way to use an inhaler, it is also necessary for the child to demonstrate how they use it in front of the pharmacist of the doctor, so the professional can gauge whether the child is getting it right or not.

The need to demonstrate and assess device technique among asthmatic children was seen to be of vital importance.

This can be both frustrating and depressing to parents and the child because this will leave the child weak and unable to develop his potential into sports and competitive games.

Asthma symptoms occur because of several factors that trigger the lungs to over react and become inflamed. Stimuli include allergens, irritants, infections and too much emotional or physical activity.

Asthma episodes can be anywhere from mild to severe depending on successful control of symptoms and the season when they are most likely to occur.

As is always the case, allergens and irritants are most often the culprit for the attack. Allergens include: smoke from cigarette, dust and pollution, pollen from flower bearing plants, seafood and shellfish, all kinds of scent whether pleasant or not, hair and fur from animals, citrus fruits, powder and perfumes.

Physical activities and condition that trigger an attack include: stress, over fatigue, too much emotion, sudden change of temperature and seasonal factors.

In the past management has been very conservative that children with asthma are prevented from participating in all physical activities, leaving the children become introverts with a low self esteem, low levels of physical fitness and end up being the attention for teasing.

Asthma treatment and management has improved over the years to involve not only the doctors and parents, but the teachers and the school as well. The key is to determine the trigger factors, the season of the asthma attack, activities that predispose the attack and the medications being taken.

The management plan should be well explained to the child so that communication is fast and accurate; document the asthma management plan for all the health providers and school personnel to be acquainted with it, document and report all incidents related to asthma attacks, modify the time and exercise program for the child, list down all emergency measures to be taken in the event of an untoward incident.

Asthma management entails a lot of work, but it will be all worth the effort if it means maximizing your child’s potential.

This may be of particular interest for those people who have a pattern of asthma in the family and whose children are seen to be more at risk from asthma: if the lifestyle of babies, who have a strong likelihood of developing asthma, is changed, their risk of developing asthma significantly reduces.

If the risk of asthma is to be lowered among teens, the preparation for this has to start a lot earlier.

By cutting out foots such as soy, nuts, dairy foods and nuts now, asthma risk for the future is significantly reduced.

What a baby eats and in fact what a breast feeding mother eats will have a future impact on this risk.

And it isn’t just one’s diet that will impact future asthma risk; by also controlling the presence of dust mites in baby bedding, a considerable difference can be made. Using vinyl mattresses and covers, and acracide to reduce the levels of dust mites in the air was seen to help.

While it is not burgers per se, the risk of asthma is seen to increase in the richer nations where diets include more junk food.

Rather than meat in the diet, it was over all lifestyle factors that were seen to increase the risk of asthma.

The lifestyle and environmental factors such as diet and lack of exercise that increase obesity risk were seen to be contributing to asthma risk.

On the other hand, a healthier diet of veggies, fish and fruit has antioxidants, Omega 3 fatty acids and anti inflammatory that stave off asthma risk.

It is true that busy modern lives leave little time for sitting and having meals together each day, however researchers have found one more reason for families to eat together:

In a recent study involving asthmatic children conducted by Barbara H. Fiese, professor of human and community development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it was found that frequent family meals tend to lessen the stress and separation anxiety that asthmatic kids feel, which may trigger or exacerbate the symptoms of their asthma.

The hypotheses were (a) that symptom severity of asthma can be influenced by separation anxiety and (b) that family meals are able to create the sense of security and support for the children which in turn lessens their anxiety.

Researchers found that as a result of supportive family meals, the lung function of asthmatic children was seen to improve. Moreover the reassurance is offered on a consistent basis because meal times come around every day and benefit from them is constantly forthcoming.

Source: Time

If women want to avoid having children with allergies, they must eat lot of grains, cereals and nuts, they are told. The researchers found that pregnant women who ate diets that were low in vitamin E were more likely to have children who suffered from asthma.

The researchers were able to establish that if the mother’s diet was low in vitamin E, the developing lungs of the baby were affected. What was also seen to be affected was the way that the baby’s immune system responded to allergens later.

The incidence of asthma attacks is seen to be rising in countries such as the UK and the US. Whereas in 1960, 4% of the population was affected, now about 25% are affected. This is attributed to change in eating habits. Earlier what we ate was largely seasonal, but now food is more processed and lower on nutrients.

Source: stv

It was found by researchers that those asthmatic children between ages 5 and 18 who had peanut allergy as well were more likely to be hospitalized for complications arising out of asthma than other children those who had no food allergy.

The children with food allergies also had more instances where they were required to take corticosteroids which administered in the short term for controlling severe asthma symptoms and are anti inflammatory in nature.

Whereas 23% of asthmatic children with peanut allergy had been hospitalized after age 3, only 16% of those without peanut allergy required hospitalization, the study observed.

Other factors such as other allergies and family history of asthma were taken into account; however, it was seen that it was peanut allergy that accounted for more oral steroid use as also more hospitalizations.

It is recommended that parents of those children who have asthma and peanut allergy should be careful to:

• Keep the asthma under control
• Minimize exposure to asthma triggers
• Help the child maintain a healthy weight
• Be regular about medications.

On average, there are two children in each classroom who suffer from asthma.

Because teachers do not feel confident about managing children with asthma in the classroom, those children are often restricted from participating in class activities, such as physical education and field trips, or even playing with their classmates.

Almost 75 percent of students with asthma said they had trouble participating in physical education classes.

On the other hand, some teachers who do not understand asthma may think their students are over-reacting, or being overly dramatic.

If you have a child with asthma, talk to the principal at their school to find out what kind of education teachers are given regarding asthma.

You may also wish to talk with your child’s teachers and the school nurse to make sure they understand how to respond in the event of an asthma attack. You should also make sure your child understands what to do and has appropriate medications for asthma available to him.

Researchers say that it might be nothing more than wishful thinking that early day care might protect kids against asthma and allergy risk in later life.

According to reports of researchers in the journal American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, early day care did not appear to lower the risk of asthma and it doesn’t raise the risk either.

Dr. Johan C. de Jongste, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands said that challenges what is known as the “hygiene hypothesis”, the theory that the increasingly germ-free surroundings of modern life are actually contributing to an increase in allergies and asthma.

Source: Reuters

It was found that asthmatic children who participated in interactive asthma education program were 38% less likely to require oral corticosteroid doses and also require less emergency care than those who did not take part in the asthma management program.

The study, a randomized controlled trial, looked at 398 children aged 3 to 16 years admitted to the emergency department in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Children in the control group followed the usual care recommended by their family physician along with an asthma information booklet developed for children admitted to hospital with asthma.

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