Asthma page 2

Do not hesitate to call your doctor if you think your child is having an asthma attack, especially if this is the first one. He needs urgent medical attention and you need advice over the telephone before the doctor arrives. Whilst waiting for the doctor, sit your child upright on a chair with plenty of pillows and open the nearby windows, unless the weather is cold or damp. Help him to stay calm.

Once a diagnosis of asthma has been made, you will need to discuss with your doctor how best your child should be treated. You will find, with the right advice, that you will be able to get his attacks under control and this will help both you and him to feel calmer and more able to take his condition in your stride. Minor attacks in the home are usually treated with bronchodilators, e.g. drugs such as Ventolin. Such drugs open up the airways to allow your child to breathe more easily. Many children are given their bronchodilator drugs through a nebulizer which is a machine which turns the di'ug into a spray of tiny droplets which the child inhales through a face mask. This is an effective mechanism for young children who would be likely to find other forms of inhaling drugs more difficult. You can obtain a nebulizer through your doctor or local hospital. Follow the maintenance instructions carefully. It is usually a very effective means of controlling symptoms out if it should not seem to be effective within ten minutes to quarter of an hour maximum, call your doctor or an ambulance. In all cases of severe attacks which cannot rapidly be brought under control, call an ambulance or take your child yourself to the Accident and Emergency Department of your local hospital because, if not attended to rapidly, asthma can be a life-threatening illness.

In younger children asthma is less common but when a young child does develop it, a common cause is food allergy. It is advisable, when your baby is being weaned, to introduce with care such common food allergens as cows' milk, milk products, eggs, wheat, citrus fruits and fish. As a precaution, I would advise delaying the introduction of these foods until your baby is a year old; later if either parent is known to suffer from food allergies. If your baby develops a food allergy, it is more likely to be one from which either of you, his parents, suffer (but not necessarily). With any suspect food you can test it by rubbing a little onto the skin on the inside of your baby's elbow. If any skin change appears (not necessarily a rash), this is an indication that he is reacting to that food and you should not give it to him. If there is no change within twenty four hours, you can try touching his lips with it. If there is no swelling of his lips or other reaction, you may wish to try him out on a very small amount of the food in question, but I would impress upon you that neither of these two tests proves conclusively that he will not have an allergic reaction to that particular food, but only that he is less likely to. If your baby is already weaned but you suspect a food allergy is causing his asthma, try to think back over the twenty four hours prior to your first noticing his symptoms and think what he has had to eat or drink. I say twenty- four hours because the onset of symptoms can be delayed although sometimes they are immediate. If it is not obvious, make a list of the suspect foods for a future occasion and, should it happen again, you will have some comparisons. Consider also, possible inhalant allergens.

Amongst the most common indoor ones are smoke, perfumed toiletries and perfumed chemical cleaners. Both can be replaced by the non-perfumed variety. Your easiest source for obtaining these is Boots the Chemist. Ask for their unperfumed toiletries and their hypoallergenic cleaning materials and washing powder.

As one doctor advised (for chemically sensitive people) "If you can smell it, suspect it." Excellent advice.

Traffic fumes are a hazard for all of us but especially for youngsters walking and babies in pushchairs, because the traffic exhaust fumes are at their level. How often have I despaired to see mothers talking to each other whilst traffic is building up and a vehicle is spewing out its evil toxins right next to their youngsters.

Children who live in houses where someone smokes are at higher risk of developing asthma. A smoker lowers the resistance of all family members whilst smoking indoors. If you suspect your child's asthma may be caused by housedust or housedust mite, then I recommend the following inasmuch as it is practicable. Vacuum his bedroom daily, opening the windows as you do so. Damp dust, i.e. dust with a damp cloth rather than a duster. Hanging his bedding in the fresh air when you can and when the weather is fine helps to get rid of dust mites. I do not recommend dust mite sprays which may be organo-phosphate based.

© Food & Chemical Allergy Association