Location Map FAQ
St. Maarten Medical Center
Pediatric Ward
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Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten causing less air to flow into the lungs.
Asthma affects people of all ages, but most often starts during childhood. Asthma has no cure. An asthma attack can happen at anytime in a child’s life.
Base on research the exact cause of asthma is unknown. It is proven that there are some genetic and environmental factors that interact in the causing of asthma, most often early in life. These factors include:
Common asthma triggers include:
Sometimes some people under estimate the symptoms for a starting of a bad flu, whereas it can be the start of an asthma attack. Common symptoms are:
When breathing gets very difficult, the skin of your child’s chest and neck may suck inward.
Other symptoms of asthma in children include:
The type and pattern of asthma symptoms may vary. They may occur often or only when certain triggers are present. Some children are more likely to have asthma symptoms at night.
Asthma complications include:
Proper treatment makes a big difference in preventing both short-term and long-term complications caused by asthma.
Prevention and long-term control are key in stopping asthma attacks. Treatment usually involves learning to recognize triggers, taking steps to avoid them and tracking the child’s breathing to make sure daily asthma medications are keeping symptoms under control. In case of an asthma flare-up, the child may need to use a quick-relief inhaler, such as a Ventolin puff.
Other treatments includes
Children with asthma should be taken seriously. Severe symptoms can be fatal. With proper treatment, most people with asthma can expect to have few, or less symptoms throughout their life.
Our advice is: