By Kara Mayer Robinson
WebMD Feature
The wheezing, the shortness of breath. Will it ever end?
Sometimes young children have asthma-like symptoms that disappear. What they have isn't asthma. It’s a temporary condition that doesn’t turn into the lung disease, says Joyce C. Rabbat, MD. She's an assistant professor at Loyola University Medical Center’s Division of Allergy and Immunology. The wheezing is treated just like asthma, but it goes away by itself, usually by age 5 or 6.
When stress levels start to creep upward -- whether it's over bills, work, or your kids -- jam-packed calendar -- asthma symptoms can kick into overdrive. As the wheezing and coughing gets worse, your health becomes one more reason to worry. Asthma and anxiety make for a vicious circle, and one that can spiral downward quickly. "Asthma is triggered by many things, and one of them is stress," says Pramod Kelkar, MD, a fellow with the American Academy of Asthma Allergy and Immunology (AAAAI)...
Most kids who have symptoms like wheezing and shortness of breath beyond that age are considered to have asthma, and they may always have it. But for about half of them, symptoms may go away around adolescence.
It isn’t clear why this happens, says Chitra Dinakar, MD, a pediatric allergist at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO. They’re able to withstand triggers that caused flares the past, she says, but they still have asthma.
The break in symptoms is more common among boys, children without sensitivity to furry animals, and kids with less severe asthma.
When Symptoms Fade
If a child is symptom-free for an extended period of time, it’s called remission.
Your child may be nearing remission if she:
- Goes a longer time in between symptoms like wheezing, chest tightness, cough, and shortness of breath
- Is physically active without having flares or needing medicine
- Is exposed to common cold viruses and allergic triggers without having a flare or needing medication
- Needs less and less rescue medication to treat symptoms
There’s always a chance of relapse, when symptoms come back. Symptoms sometimes reappear in adulthood, and they can be brought on by different triggers than before. About half of the kids who have a drop in symptoms during adolescence will have symptoms appear again when they hit their 30s or 40s, studies say.
If your child has the following, she’s more likely to have persistent, lifelong asthma.
- A parent with asthma
- Eczema
- Sensitivity to airborne allergens (like pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds, or molds or dust mites)
- Food allergies (milk, eggs, or peanuts)
- Wheezing when she doesn’t have a cold
- A high count of a certain type of white blood cells
Smoking, weight gain, and other factors can also increase the chances of symptoms coming back.
Take Control
“Unfortunately we cannot alter the natural course of asthma, but we can get it under excellent control,” Rabbat says. Help your child avoid or control the triggers that set off her asthma to help prevent flares.
Common triggers include:
- Pollen
- Pets
- Dust mites
- Pollution
- Tobacco smoke
- Temperature changes
- Allergies
Your child can lead a normal life with the help of an asthma plan created with your doctor and the right medication. “Many Olympic athletes have asthma,” Rabbat says.
source : Can Kids Outgrow Asthma?
