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ASTHMA INFORMATION
Understanding asthma can help you control symptoms and prevent attacks.
What Is Asthma?
Asthma is a Disease of the Airways Airways are also called air passages or bronchial tubes of the
lungs. Asthma makes the airways in your lungs inflamed. This is called airway inflammation and
means the airways are swollen, irritated, and sensitive. The inflammation is always there, even when
you feel just fine and have no asthma symptoms. You can help control the swelling by taking
medicine and by staying away from things that bother your airways. Inflamed (swollen, irritated and
sensitive) airways are very sensitive. They can react to many things. When allergens or irritating
substances are inhaled (breathed in), the airways become more swollen and begin to make excess
mucus. The muscles in the walls of the airways begin to contract (go into “spasm: or “constriction”).
These reactions cause the airway openings to become smaller (more narrow or “constricted”),
making it harder for air to move in and out. Narrowing of airways from swelling, mucus, and spasm
causes coughing and sometimes wheezing and / or difficulty breathing
Asthma is often hereditary: This means it is passed through families. Sometimes, more than one
person in the same family has asthma and / or allergies and / or eczema
Allergies and Asthma: Asthma often occurs in people who have other allergic reactions such as
eczema or hay fever
Asthma is common. About 12 million Americans have asthma, and the number of people who have
asthma is increasing worldwide
Reactive Airway Disease (RAD). This is a term or name some doctor’s use to describe a specific type of asthma.
Reactive airway disease is asthma where symptoms occur in infants or young children only with colds but not with
allergies, exercise, or cold air. There are no asthma symptoms between colds and usually no or minimal symptoms during
the summer when colds are uncommon.
Other older names for asthma include wheezy bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis, and bronchial
asthma. Asthma is often mis-diagnosed as bronchitis or pneumonia
Asthma can be a long-lasting disease
HOW DO YOU GET ASTHMA / WHERE DOES IT COME FROM ?
Asthma is not contagious--it can't be spread to others, and it has nothing to do with how you were
raised or your relationships
The basic cause of asthma is not yet known. Some people are born with the possibility of developing
asthma. Of these people some develop it, and others do not.
Emotional stress can occasionally trigger an attack, BUT emotional problems are not the cause of
asthma
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Asthma Signs and Symptoms
Asthma can cause any of the following symptoms and signs.

Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling or musical sound while breathing out. Wheezing is the sound of air moving
through narrowed air passages. Quite often wheezing can only be heard using a stethascope to listen to the chest.

Coughing. Narrowed air passages and extra mucus in the airways from asthma causes coughing

Chest tightness

shortness of breath or trouble breathing.
Some children with asthma have only one of these symptoms, while other may have several or all of
the symptoms.
In some patients, symptoms worsen during the night or after exercise.
Asthma symptoms can change from day to day, month-to-month, season-to-season, and year-toyear. The symptoms of asthma usually come and go but even when the cough and wheezing are
gone—the asthma is NOT gone. Just because a child with asthma is feeling fine and not noticing
any symptoms for a few weeks or months does NOT mean they “don’t have asthma anymore.”
Some people have coughing or wheezing only during or after physical activity. This is called exerciseinduced asthma.
Asthma may be mild, moderate, or severe, but even someone with usually mild asthma can
sometimes have an episode with severe symptoms.
Asthma symptoms may last a few minutes or for days
DIAGNOSIS OF ASTHMA
Your healthcare provider will ask about your history of breathing problems and will do a physical
exam. You may have one or more breathing tests. You may be tested before and after taking
medication to measure your response to medication.
A single attack of wheezing does not necessarily mean that you have asthma. Certain infections and
some chemicals can cause wheezing that lasts for a short time and then does not occur again.
Before deciding whether you have asthma, your provider may want to see if you have another attack
of wheezing.
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ASTHMA ATTACKS
An asthma attack occurs when the airways narrow, making it harder to breathe. Asthma attacks are
sometimes called flare-ups, exacerbations, or episodes.
Asthma Attacks can happen anywhere and at any time. Many things in the home, school, work, and
other places can cause asthma attacks.
Begin treatment early: It is important to know that treatment can reverse asthma symptoms. Its important to treat even
mild asthma symptoms so that you can prevent the symptoms from getting worse. Start the asthma quick relief medicine
at the first sign of any coughing or wheezing. The best "cough medicine" for a person with asthma is an asthma medicine.
If the asthma medication does not help the cough, then call your doctor before you try a cold or cough medication. Always
keep the medicine handy and take it with you on trips. If your supply runs low, obtain a refill.
Asthma attacks may be frightening, but they are usually treatable when medications are taken as
directed by your doctor. However, severe asthma attacks can be fatal. If your medicines do not
seem to be working, contact your asthma nurse or doctor.
Call Your Doctor Immediately or seek urgent medical care If:

wheezing is severe.

breathing is difficult.

The wheezing is not improved after treatment with asthma quick relief medicines.

You have a high fever
Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours If:

Asthma symptoms have continued for several days without clear improvement

You have other questions or concerns.
Going to school: Asthma is not contagious. Your child may go to school during mild asthma attacks but avoid gym on
these days. Arrange to have your child’s asthma medicines available at school.
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ASTHMA TREATMENT—CONTROLLING ASTHMA
ASTHMA CANNOT BE CURED, but with treatment it can be controlled. Your child can become symptom-free all
or most of the time. But asthma does NOT go away just because the symptoms go away. You must keep taking care of
your child’s asthma
ASTHMA CAN BE CONTROLLED so that your child can live a normal life. Asthma should not keep your child
from sleeping all night without asthma symptoms, going to school, exercising and playing sports. It should not keep you
from going to work or school. If it does, talk to your doctor about your treatment. Many children with asthma get used to
having symptoms and do not realize that their asthma CAN be controlled
ASTHMA PARENT: Although your doctor and nurse play a part in managing your child’s asthma, you play the key
role in controlling it. In this partnership, your job is to:

Supervise and watch your child take their asthma medicines exactly as prescribed.

Watch for signs that your child’s asthma is getting worse and act quickly to prevent or stop an attack.

Try to identify and avoid the substances that trigger your child’s asthma attacks (see below).

Ask your doctor about any concerns you have and see your asthma doctor regularly. .

Get a flu vaccine for your child every October or November
ASTHMA TRIGGERS: Triggers are anything that make asthma worse.
 Triggers typically fall into three groups:

Allergens: Particles in the air that you are allergic to can cause an asthma attack. Pollen, animal
dander, mold, mildew, cockroaches, and dust are the most common.

Irritants: substances that bother or irritate your airways include perfumes, household cleaning products,
aerosol sprays, smoke, industrial chemicals, and air pollution. People with asthma may react to even a
small amount of these substances.

Physical conditions such as viral infections, colds, or flu can cause flare-ups. Exercise, weather
changes, cold air, and emotional stress are other asthma triggers in this category
 Triggers add up.
 Try to identify and avoid things that make your child’s asthma worse. Follow the guidelines
provided by your asthma doctor and nurse to help keep triggers from affecting your child.
ASTHMA MEDICINES: Your child may need more than one type of asthma medication

Quick relief asthma medicines: some asthma medications are taken to relieve symptoms when they occur.

Long-term control medications: some asthma medications need to be taken regularly to control asthma.

Control medications reduce inflammation of the airway and are usually taken every day even when you
have no symptoms.

Control medications are NOT addictive and your child will NOT become immune to using them daily

If your child needs daily preventative asthma medication, but does NOT always take it, then asthma
symptoms can worsen suddenly and sometimes cause a serious asthma attack.
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EXERCISE AND ASTHMA
Exercise should not interfere with participation in most sports or require a gym excuse. Asthma symptoms can be
prevented by using asthma medicine before exercise. If your child has cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath and /
or wheezing from exercise and running then speak to your asthma doctor / nurse for instructions on how to use asthma
medications to prevent this problem. With the correct treatment, almost every child with asthma should be able to run and
play sports as well as children who do NOT have asthma. Don’t let asthma slow your child down or interfere with exercise
that makes your child’s body strong and healthy.
Does Asthma Go Away / Can children Outgrow Asthma?
Asthma is usually a chronic condition for children that have both allergies and asthma or who have
wheezing or other asthma symptoms between colds. Even though your child might not have any
symptoms for years, the symptoms may come back later in life
Asthma may change over the years. It could get worse and require more medicine or improve and
require less medicine. That’s why it’s important to keep in touch with your doctor.
Young children who have wheezing or other asthma symptoms only with colds and do not have
symptoms between colds and do not have allergies often have no symptoms once they get older.
Asthma that develops for the first time in mid-life or later usually continues to be a problem for the
rest of your life.
Rainbow Pediatric Asthma Center
Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital
Cleveland, OH, 44106
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Lungs look like upside down trees. You breathe in air through your nose and mouth. The air goes
through tubes called airways. Airways are in the lungs. Airways have muscles wrapped around them.
They look like stripes on a candy cane. There is lining inside the airways. This lining makes mucus.
When the airway is open, air can get in and out easily. This picture shows what the inside of the
airways might look like when you are breathing normal.
The picture below shows what your lungs look like when everything is working normally. The muscles
that are wrapped around the airways are very thin and loose, and the airway is wide open. This
makes it easy to move air in and out of the air sacs. When you are breathing normally, it takes about
the same amount of time to breathe in (inspire) as it does to breathe out (expire).
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During an asthma attack, the muscles around the airways tighten, or "spasm" (like when you make
a fist) and the lining inside the airways swell or thicken, and get clogged with thick mucous. This
makes the airways much skinnier than usual so it is harder to move air in and out of the air sacs.
This makes it hard to breathe!
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This picture shows how the inside of the airways
might look during an asthma attack. When you
have asthma, your airways can get tight and fill
with mucus, making it hard to breathe.. If your
airways are tight and filled with mucus, you may
make a whistling noise, called a wheeze, and you
may cough a lot.