Find out how and why your child may get asthma

Here is all you need to know about how and why your child may be suffering from asthma. Know them to treat the condition at the right time.

In case your child is suffering from asthma, you must know that childhood asthma can get very easily triggered as the tender lungs and airways get inflamed without any difficulty. These triggers include inhaling some air borne pollen or catching a cold or any other respiratory infection.

Signs that hint at your child suffering from asthma

The most common signs of childhood asthma include frequent, intermittent coughing, whistling or wheezing sound while exhaling, shortness of breath, chest congestion, pain in the chest, a feeling of tightness in the chest, troubled sleeping due to shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing, bouts of coughing or wheezing which may worsen due to a respiratory infection, late recovery or bronchitis following a respiratory infection and fatigue.

What causes childhood asthma?

According to the doctors, the underlying causes of childhood asthma are not fully known or understood. Some factors which are considered to cause childhood asthma are inherited traits, some types of infection in airways at wee age and exposure to cigarette smoke and air pollution. Doctors say that these triggers may vary from child to child.

The potential triggers of asthma among children can include viral infections like the common cold, exposure to air pollutants like vehicular emission and tobacco smoke, allergies to dust mites, pet dander, pollen or mold, physical activities like running or walking too fast and changes in weather or cold air.

Several other risk factors that may trigger childhood asthma are previous allergic reactions like skin reactions, food allergies or allergic rhinitis or hay fever, a family history of asthma, living in an urban area with extensive exposure to air pollution, obesity, respiratory conditions like chrinic runny or stuffy nose, inflamed sinuses or pneumonia, heart burn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), being male and being black, say doctors.