Asthma

Asthma is a condition that makes it harder to breathe. It affects the tiny tubes in your lungs called airways that carry air in and out of your body. If you have asthma your airways are almost always inflamed (red and swollen). When these inflamed airways come into contact with an asthma trigger (things like pets, tobacco smoke and pollen) they become narrower making it harder to breathe.

What does asthma feel like?

If you have asthma you may find that:

• you cough
• your chest feels very tight
• you get short of breath even when you are not exercising
• you wheeze (make a whistling sound from your chest) when you breathe in and out

Everybody's asthma is different. Some kids have very mild asthma and hardly ever get any symptoms. Other children may have more severe asthma that means they have to take time off school or even go into hospital. If you are having difficulty with your breathing you should go to see your doctor who will be able to tell you whether you have asthma.

Why do I have asthma?

You can't catch asthma from other people — it is not an infectious disease. You may have asthma because your mum and dad have an allergy too, such as asthma or hay fever. Scientists are trying to find out what causes asthma but at the moment we don't know exactly why some people have difficulty with their breathing.

What should I do if I have asthma?

Most of all — don't worry! There are lots of things that you can do to make your asthma better. Your doctor or asthma nurse can tell you all about the ways in which you can make your breathing easier. And if you follow their advice there's no reason why you won't be able to do all the things that you want to do — just like everybody else.

Medication

If you have asthma your doctor will give you some medicine to help you to breathe more easily. Most asthma medicines come in a device called an inhaler. You can use an inhaler to breathe in your medicine so that it reaches your lungs quickly and starts to make them better.

There are two types of medicine used to make your asthma better. When you get asthma symptoms a reliever inhaler (which is usually blue) will help to relax the muscles around your airways to make it easier to breathe again. You should keep your reliever inhaler with you all the time — then you can take a quick puff whenever you have difficulty with your breathing.

Preventer inhalers (usually brown or orange) help to soothe and calm the inflammation in your airways. Preventer medicine can help to make your airways less irritable. This means that you will be less likely to have difficulty breathing when you come into contact with an asthma trigger. If your doctor gives you a preventer inhaler you should take it regularly — even if you are feeling well. Although the preventer will make you feel better, it does not make your asthma go away altogether. So you will need to take your preventer regularly to keep your lungs healthy and strong.

It will be much easier to take your inhaler if you use a spacer device. A spacer is a big plastic container with a hole at both ends which fits onto your inhaler. When you press your inhaler the fine spray of medicine is trapped inside the spacer ready for you to breathe it in. Spacers can be a bit tricky to use at first but a doctor or nurse will show you how it works and you can always ask your mum and dad to help. You'll soon get the hang of it.

Will I always have asthma?

Many people find that their asthma gets better as they get older but it is not always the case. If your asthma is mild it is more likely to get better as you get older. You may find that your asthma is better for a few years and just comes back now and again. The good news is that there are lots of things that you can do to make your asthma better so you can breathe just as easily as everybody else.

 source: http://www.asthma.org.uk/kidszone/kfacts1.html