Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/managing--asthma-in-the-early-childhood-setting/5020174/
Asthma, one of the most common chronic disorders in childhood, affects more than seven million children in the United States, and is the third leading cause of hospitalization for children. Statistics like these make planning and preparing for asthma in the early childhood setting a high priority.Brief Overview of Asthma
Asthma is a chronic condition that causes inflammation of the respiratory system and can make it hard to breathe. Although asthma can’t be cured, some children outgrow it. And while it can be a life-threatening disease if not properly managed, deaths due to asthma are rare among children.
An asthma episode (a preferable term to ‘asthma attack’) is a series of events resulting in the narrowing of the tiniest areas in the lungs due to swelling, tightening of the airway muscles, and increased mucus in the airway. Everyone’s airways constrict somewhat in response to irritating substances. But in a person with asthma, the airways overreact to things that would just be minor irritants in people without asthma (some doctors describe this hyper-
reactive tendency as ‘twitchy airways’). The narrowed airway is responsible for the difficulty in breathing and the high-pitched, whistling sound (‘wheeze’) often associated with asthma. Other common symptoms of asthma include:
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