Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-meeting-the-health-needs-of-children-with-asthma/5010159/
Asthma is on the rise. It is already the most common chronic medical condition of childhood, affecting 10% of all children. No one knows why asthma is increasing among children. Some suspect that the rise in smoking among young women may be responsible. Other explanations include the increase in the number of infants who are surviving the newborn period but have suffered lung damage while being given life-saving respiratory treatment.Another explanation is that by reducing ventilation with outside air to conserve energy, we have increased children's exposure to toxic chemicals. Also, conditions now recognized as asthma used to be called chronic cough or bronchitis. Perhaps the increase in asthma is a combination of all of these factors.
With the increase in asthma, nearly all child care providers can expect to have at least some children with the condition. When a child has asthma symptoms, the air passages in the lungs are blocked. Mucous, swelling of the lining of the airway, and constriction of the muscles around the small breathing tubes all contribute to the symptoms.
You can see that the child is working harder to breathe than other children. The ...