Asthma: Causes, Symptoms and Diagnosis

Asthma is an allergy-related disease that involves intermittent bouts of coughing, wheezing and breathing difficulty because of narrowing of the breathing tubes leading into the lungs. This narrowing is caused when the lining of the tubes becomes inflamed and swells. The muscles in the walls of the tubes go into spasm and the tubes fill up with phlegm or mucus. A whistling or wheezing sound may be produced when air moves through these narrowed tubes. Asthma is a common childhood disease compared with other diseases.

Asthmatic children are born with sensitive tubes (bronchi) which, at some point in the child's life, begin to react to things in the environment such as allergens or viruses. Once this happens, the child begins to cough or wheeze frequently. This tendency is inherited. If you or your spouse have asthma, your child is more likely to develop asthma too. But exactly why it affects some children and not others in the same family is not known

When should you suspect asthma?
If your child wheezes as he or she breathes, asthma may be the cause. There are other symptoms to watch for as well. Frequent or extended periods of coughing and chest rattling, or "chestiness", especially at night or in the early hours of the morning may be asthma signals. Children who are repeatedly diagnosed as having bronchitis or pneumonia and show no improvement when treated with antibiotics may also have asthma. Finally, children who have other allergic problems such as eczema or hay fever and then develop prolonged or frequent bouts of coughing or wheezing should be suspected of having asthma.

Many parents first learn of their children's asthma after an asthma attack that requires medical attention. During an asthma attack, the child's chest may move in and out rapidly. There may be sucking in and out of the muscles between the ribs and also above the collar bones. The muscles running between the collar bones and the base of the jaw may be quite prominent. The child's lips may appear blue, and there may be coughing, whistling sounds or wheezing as the child tries to breathe out. Asthma is not the only illness that can produce these reactions, but it is one of the most likely causes.

How is asthma diagnosed?
Many tests may be ordered by your doctor to determine if your child has allergies, since allergies and asthma are related in some children. Asthma varies greatly in severity. Some asthmatics have very sensitive airways and seem to wheeze or cough after the slightest stimulus. They have frequent attacks (every week or even daily). Others wheeze only after very strong stimulation. Even two children with asthma in the same family may not have it to the same degree.

Most asthma is mild and is easily managed. 20-30 per cent of children "outgrow" their asthma and another 30 percent improve as they get older. The remaining 30 per cent -usually those who have severe asthma in early childhood- continue to have problems with asthma as adults. Today, fortunately, there are medications that can greatly assist these people in coping with their disease. Deaths from asthma are very rare indeed, and sever disability from asthma is no longer common.