Author Archives: Jackie Aim

Famous People Who Have Asthma

These famous people have been very successful in their field despite having asthma. It is inspiring to see
that their asthma has not prevented them from achieving their goals.

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Football:

  • David Beckham
  • Paul Scholes “My asthma is well controlled so it has never affected my performance.” (Former Manchester United & England Footballer)

Cricket:

  • Darren Gough “Whether it is uniquely English pollen that triggers my asthma attacks, or the cooler, damper air, I don’t know.”

Marathon Runner

  • Paula Radcliffe- “I don’t really think asthma has affected my career – if anything it’s made me more determined to be successful and reach my maximum potential.” If you learn to manage your asthma and take the correct medication there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be the best.

Olympic Medallists:

  • Rebecca Adlington (Olympic Gold Swimmer)
  • Laura Trott (Cycling)
  • Bradley Wiggins ‘It does sound quite bad if you are diagnosed with asthma and your natural instinct is to think that’s it. But there is better medicine available now and I am an Olympic champion – the evidence is out there that you can succeed.’ (Cycling)

Rugby:

  • Austin Healy “I’ve had asthma since my childhood but I can’t afford to let it affect my performance on the pitch.” (England Rugby International Player)

Daytime TV Presenter

  • Matt Johnson (This Morning )“I can happily take my inhaler anywhere in front of anyone…. Weirdly, when I laugh really hard I get a very tight chest.”

Musicians:

  • Harry Styles (One Direction)
  • Pink

What happens to the lungs in asthma?

When a child with asthma comes into contact with something they are allergic to, or something that irritates the lining of their airways (a trigger) the airways become narrower making it more difficult to breathe.

  • The muscles in the airways tighten, this is know as bronchospasm.
  • The lining of the airways becomes swollen (inflamed) and sticky mucus (phlegm) may be produced.
  • This leads to asthma symptoms that may vary from person to person.

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Other signs of Asthma

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Signs

  • Nocturnal: asthma can occur very suddenly and worse in the middle of the night. It can leave your child breathless, wheezy and exhausted on waking.
  • Chest tightness: usually extrinsic/allergic asthma.  Chest feels tight and breathing becomes difficult. There is a usually a wheeze.
  • Cough: persistent irritating cough.
  • Silent: breathless starts with no warning and no wheeze.

Triggers

  • Seasonal: as seasons change different types of pollen occur which can trigger your child’s asthma:
    • Summer – tree/grass/flower pollen in hot dry atmosphere
    • Autumn – fungal spores in wet or damp weather
  • Environmental: dust, chemicals, fumes, animals, fluff from fruit can all be triggers for your child’s asthma.
  • Exercise : when the child is exercising or after exercise they may have a  wheeze and be short of breath. Worse in cold weather.
  • Emotional induced : caused by laughing, excitement or sudden shock.

Triggers for asthma

asthma_types_child
Allergic asthma usually starts in childhood
Your child may be offered some allergy testing to look for some of the common allergens that can make asthma symptoms worse. This is usually done in hospital by a simple skin test but can also be done by taking a small amount of blood. These are some of the things your child may be allergic to:

  • Pollen.
  • Animal dander (animal fur and saliva).
  • Dustmites.

A small sample of pollen or other allergen is placed on the skin. If the skin test is positive it will show as swelling and redness on the skin surface due to the production of antibodies. This is known as an Atopic reaction.

Non-allergic asthma
In this type of asthma there is no reaction to a skin test as there is no allergic reaction. The asthma symptoms are triggered by an irritant such as smoke or some cleaning products or by exercise or emotional extremes such as laughing or stress. Weather conditions can also be a trigger.

Whichever your type of asthma, most people can live a normal life if they have the right treatment and medication as prescribed by your doctor, asthma nurse or nurse specialist. Get to know your child’s asthma symptoms and any triggers which make those symptoms worse. Then you can treat the problem early to get the best results. The majority of people with asthma can be symptom free and live a normal life. If your child’s asthma is more difficult to control the child may be referred to respiratory specialists who can help.

Who gets Asthma?

Map of Scotland showing 1 in 13 children in Scotland have asthma

1 in 13 children in Scotland have asthma

1 in 13 children in Scotland have asthma – of those 5% (37,000) have severe asthma symptoms (figures from Scottish Health Survey 2011).

People who have a family history of asthma, hay fever, eczema or allergies are more likely to develop asthma. However, children without allergies or relatives with allergies also develop asthma.

Childhood is the most common age of onset but asthma can begin at any age!

Managing my child’s asthma

Self management is about growing in confidence and gaining new skills, to help you manage your child’s condition. Eventually as your child gets older, they will be able to take over and learn to self manage their asthma.

This will be done with support from your health care professionals, carers and family. This does not mean that you have to cope alone or that the health care professionals are abandoning you.

Self management is about you finding what works best for your child in terms of coping and managing everyday living activities when living with a long term condition. The support your child needs will always be in place but you will be the person managing it. It is about you being in control of your child’s condition and not it taking control of you!

Here are some tips for successful self management.

  • Understand as much as you can about your child’s asthma.
  • Understand how asthma affects your child.
  • Improve the way you and your child cope and their well being.
  • Know when and where to get the help you need.
  • Know how to communicate with the healthcare professionals about your child’s asthma symptoms.
  • Know which actions you and your child can take which are personally meaningful and important to manage your child’s asthma.
  • Know what to do if your child’s asthma gets worse.
  • Involve your child in making decisions about their asthma as they get older.
Self-management is about making small changes or adjustments. You are already doing this by visiting this website.
You will see this icon on some pages when there is a self management tip.

What is asthma?

  • Asthma is a condition that affects the lungs. It causes swelling and narrowing of small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs causing shortness of breath, cough or wheeze.
  • There is no cure for asthma but the symptoms can be well controlled with treatment and avoiding irritants (triggers) that make it worse.
  • Some children will “grow out of their asthma” when their lungs develop and mature as they get older.
  • Some children will get asthma for the first time later in childhood.

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Introduction to treatments

Blue inhalerBrown inhalerMedications and pillsblue inhaler with spacer

Inhaled medicines are used to help treat symptoms of asthma. Inhalers come in all different styles, shapes and sizes. They may be aerosol inhalers or single dose capsules loaded into an inhaler device. See A practical guide to inhalers for more information.

Some people when using inhalers may be advised to use a spacer device. This is a plastic balloon like container which your inhaler fits on to. You shake your inhaler, attach it to the spacer and as normal breathe out. Place your lips around the spacer mouthpiece, and spray the inhaler into the spacer using your recommended number of “puffs”. You can then take several breaths to get all of the inhaler medication in to your lungs. This is useful for people who have poor hand coordination or who find it difficult to coordinate the single inhaled breath and the use of the inhaler at the same time. Take care to use the spacer and inhaler as instructed by your health care team.

Not all medication is taken by inhalation there are also tablets, oral steroids or antibiotics.

Understanding and using your medicines and inhalers is one key part for self managing your asthma effectively. If you are not sure about any aspect of your medication, speak to your health care professionals who can help

Self management in asthma

Self management is about growing in confidence and gaining new skills, to help you manage your condition. This will be done with support from your health care professionals, carers and family. This does not mean that you have to cope alone or that the health care professionals are abandoning you.

Self management is about you finding what works best for you in terms of coping and managing everyday living activities when living with a long term condition. The support you need will always be in place but you will be the person managing it. It is about you being in control of your condition and not it taking control of you!

Here are some tips for successful self management:

  • Understand as much as you can about asthma.
  • Understand how asthma affects you.
  • Improve the way you cope and your well being.
  • Know when and where to get the help you need.
  • Know how to communicate with the healthcare professionals about your asthma symptoms.
  • Know which actions work for you and will help to you to manage your asthma.
  • Know what to do if your asthma gets worse.
Self management is about taking control of your condition, which may mean making small changes or adjustments. You are already doing this by visiting this website.
You will see this icon on some pages when there is a self management tip.