It may surprise you to learn that there are more than seven million children who suffer from asthma, with more than one million of these children being younger than five! What’s more surprising is that this number includes only children with asthma in the Unites States. Asthma is a serious respiratory condition characterized by wheezing, tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. Asthma can cause children to miss out on typical childhood activities and even miss school.
Asthma attacks may be in varying levels of severity. To learn more about the different classifications of childhood asthma and the treatments indicated for the condition, parents can contact the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, which publishes a set of asthma guidelines and works in the interest of assisting parents and children to manage the disease.
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 child’s medication is controlling their asthma.
If the child’s asthma improves, the doctor will likely lower the dosage of their medication, with the intent of taking them off of medication altogether if possible. If the child’s asthma becomes increasingly severe, however than the doctor will either increase the dosage of medication or switch the child to a different one.
The asthma guidelines outline goals for childhood asthma treatment. If the treatment being used does not improve the condition, than the physician will change the treatment regimen accordingly. Your doctor will look for certain criteria laid out in the asthma guidelines, such as whether your child’s asthma is preventing them from going to school or playing with other children.
Your doctor will also watch your child’s progress, especially in the first few days to monitor for side effects and for how well the medication is doing in preventing asthma attacks in your child.
The asthma guidelines classify childhood asthma into different types based on severity. The least severe is mild intermittent, where the child only has asthma symptoms once or twice a week. This is followed by mild persistent, where symptoms are seen more than twice a week and as much as once per day.
Next most severe is moderate persistent, where the child has symptoms daily and sometimes at night as well. The most severe childhood asthma classification is severe persistent, meaning that the child has symptoms of asthma daily. If your child has asthma attacks, see your physician to discuss treatment and the asthma guidelines.
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