ASTHMA

Asthma (say: az-muh) is a condition that affects a person's airways, which are also called breathing tubes or bronchial (say: brong-kee-ul) tubes. These tubes lead from the windpipe, or trachea (say: tray-kee-uh), into the lungs. For most kids, breathing is simple: They breathe in through their noses or mouths and the air goes into the windpipe. From there, it travels through the airways and into the lungs. But for kids with asthma, breathing can be a lot more difficult because their airways are very sensitive.

An asthma flare-up, which some people call an asthma attack or episode, happens when a person's airways get swollen and narrower and it becomes a lot harder for air to get in and out of the lungs. Sometimes the swollen airways produce extra mucus, which makes things pretty sticky, so it's easy to see why it's hard to breathe.

In between flare-ups, a kid's breathing can be totally normal or seem that way. But during a flare-up, it can feel like the person is breathing through a straw. A kid with asthma may wheeze (a whistling sound when he or she breathes), cough, and feel tightness in the chest. An asthma flare-up can get worse and worse if a kid doesn't use asthma medicine. After an asthma flare-up, the airways almost always return to the way they were before, although it can take several days.

Who Gets Asthma?

Asthma is more common than you might think. As many as 6 million kids in the United States have it. Asthma affects about one or two kids out of 10. That means if you have 20 kids in your class, two to four of them might have asthma. Asthma can start at any age - even in a little baby or an adult - but it's most common in school-age kids.

No one really knows why one person's airways are more sensitive than another person's, but we do know that asthma runs in families. That means if a kid has asthma, he or she may also have a parent, sibling, uncle, or other relative who has asthma or had it as a child.

Asthma flare-ups may sound a little like a cold, with coughing and wheezing, but asthma isn't contagious. You can't catch it from someone like you can catch a cold.

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF ASTHMA?

Inflammation of the airways is the common finding in all asthma patients. Recent studies indicate that this inflammation is virtually always causative in the asthmatic condition. This inflammation is produced by allergy, viral respiratory infections, and airborne irritants among others.

More than 50 percent of current asthma cases in the U.S. can be attributed to allergies. Thirty percent of those are associated with cat allergies. Early exposure to cats may be a protective factor, but becomes a risk factor for asthma if an allergy develops. While this study shows that preventing, blocking or reversing certain allergic reactions could reduce a large proportion of asthma cases, almost half of cases are not associated with allergies and require further research to determine their cause.5

Studies indicate that allergic reactions produce both immediate and late phase (delayed) reactions. Research indicates that approximately half of the immediate allergic reactions to inhaled allergens are followed by a late phase reaction.

This late phase reaction produces more serious injury and airway inflammation. This airway inflammation leads to irritability or hyper responsiveness of the airways. In addition, prolonged airway inflammation can cause scarring.