Staying in control is the key to living a normal life
A child with asthma can still enjoy an active lifestyle, as ABIGAIL SALTMARSH discovers
One in 10 children in Norwich suffers from asthma — yet if properly controlled, the medical condition should not affect the lifestyle of youngsters.
This is the message from Asthma UK who have recently launched a campaign to encourage children with the condition to take part in sport.
The most recent step in their drive to tackle the myths surrounding asthma and exercise is a poster featuring sporting celebrities Paula Radcliffe and Paul Scholes who both suffer from the condition.
Patrick Ladbury, children and young people's development manager at Asthma UK, said a poll on the Asthma UK website found that more than 50 per cent of children with asthma felt their PE teacher did not understand their condition.
"We have developed this poster in direct response to feedback from children with asthma, parents and teachers," he said. "The poster will empower both pupils and teachers with the knowledge to enable children with asthma to take part in PE lessons safely and enjoyably.
"We are delighted that Paula Radcliffe and Paul Scholes have joined our campaign — their stories show that having asthma does not have to be a barrier to taking part or excelling in sport."
Asthma is a condition that affects the airways — the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When a sufferer child comes into contact with something that irritates their airways (an asthma trigger) his or her airways will become narrower, making it more difficult to breathe.
The muscles around the walls of the airways start to tighten, the lining of the airway becomes inflamed and sometimes the mucus that cleans and protects the lining of the airways builds up and gets in the way of the air that is trying to reach the lungs.
Asthma is the most common medical condition in the UK — every 18 minutes a child is admitted to hospital in the UK suffering from symptoms. Yet with help there's no reason why youngsters can't take control of their symptoms and continue to lead full and active lives.
Six year-old Paul Newman, from Thorpe St Andrew suffers from asthma but his mother Julie Bishop, 37, said he leads a normal active life. "I am asthmatic myself and well aware of the symptoms," she said. "I suffered from it as a child."My asthma has always been quite bad. I have been hospitalised because of it, however, in the past two years it has been better." She went on: "Paul was always a snuffly baby but the first time I realised he had asthma was when he had a reaction to paint fumes when he was two. His oesophagus swelled up and he was struggling to breathe. He was also drifting in and out of sleep. Paul was taken into hospital and put on a ventilator and began to recover from the episode. He was later diagnosed with asthma and put on medication to help control it.
Julie soon realised Paul's asthma was triggered by pollutants. Car fumes and noxious cleaning products made it worse."When we used to live in London his asthma was much worse. My asthma is brought on by pollen, in particular rape seed, but Paul's tends to be fumes and chemicals," said Julie.
An asthma trigger is anything that can irritate the airways and cause a reaction. Different sufferers have different triggers, but common causes of episodes can //include viral infections (colds or flu), allergies (eg to pollen, animals, house-dust mites and some foods) and irritants (eg cold air, tobacco smoke, chemical fumes). If you suspect your child has asthma symptoms, you should keep a note of anything (or a mixture of things) that is present on these occasions. You may be able to notice patterns and identify what is triggering their asthma.
Julie said: "I realised that
every time I was cleaning Paul started wheezing and so I started picking up bottles and looking at what was in them. I realised how poisonous some of the chemicals in these products were."
Julie went on-line and began ordering non-chemical products from the US. As soon as she started using them Paul's asthma seemed to improve.
Then she went one step further and set up her own cleaning company, Living Clean, and went on to develop her own products. The service caught on and Julie now has 300 customers and a complete eco-friendly product range.
Today, Paul's asthma is under control and Julie said that even at six he manages it himself to a certain degree. She hopes that as he gets older he will remain active and will enjoy sports with all his peers. "I don't find it stressful that Paul has asthma — perhaps it is because I suffer from it myself," said Julie. She added: "Asthma is very common these days and I think the way they look after children has improved greatly since I was young. "Paul is a happy confident little boy who runs around with his friends and doesn't let the asthma worry him at all. He joins in with all the exercise and activities at school and is as energetic as everyone else."
Facts and figures
• One in 10 children has asthma and it is the most common long-term medical condition.
• Approximately 30 to 50 per cent of the risk of developing asthma is thought to be caused by hereditary factors. If one parent has asthma, the chance of their child developing asthma is approximately double that of children whose parents don't have asthma.
• If you or your partner have asthma, there are steps you can take that could help to reduce the chances of your child developing asthma — breastfeed for at least four months, do not keep furry or feathery pets, try to keep your child away from allergens such as house-dust mites, pollen and pollutants, do not smoke.
• Smoking during pregnancy brings a 50 per cent increased risk of your baby being wheezy or having breathing difficulties.
• The risk of asthma in school age children is increased by approximately 60 per cent in children of smokers.
• The UK has the highest prevalence of severe wheeze in children aged 13-14 years worldwide.
• For more information on asthma talk to your GP or visit www.asthma.org.uk or call 08457 010203
• For details on Living Clean call (01603) 492820 or visit www.livingclean.co.uk