What is Childhood Onset Asthma?
Childhood Onset Asthma(COA) is the term used to describe cases of asthma that are diagnosed before the age of 20。While asthma may be diagnosed at any age, most children are diagnosed by the age of five. This is mainly due to the nature of childhood asthma, which usually tends to be allergic.
Here are some more facts to consider.
Statistics。According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 million children under the age of 18 have asthma. That means that 9.3 percent of all children have it. Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, and the most likely cause of days missed from school. It results in 14.2 million physician office visits and 1.8 million emergency room visits each year.
Allergic (Extrinsic) Asthma。大多数孩子都有哮喘由过敏症引发。
这意味着他们的身体开发一个exaggerated response to substances in the air called allergens that are innocuous (harmless) to most people.
Examples of allergens are dust mites, cockroach urine, mold, pollen, and animal dander. While allergies can develop at any age, they are most likely to develop early in life, and this might explain why most cases of COA are diagnosed early.
It usually doesn't take long for susceptible children to be exposed to their allergens, particularly boys.
Boys。According to theAmerican Lung Association，约有400万个男孩和320万个女孩拥有它。这意味着男孩比女孩更容易有16％。男孩也更有可能具有哮喘的攻击，更有可能错过上学日，更有可能访问哮喘的急诊室，更有可能被送往医院的哮喘。这仍然是一个谜，虽然一个理论表明，男孩更有可能参与将它们暴露于过敏原的活动，如在花粉填充的森林中跑步，或躲在尘土飞扬的森林中。这一趋势在十几岁的岁月开始逆转，而在成年期妇女比男性更有可能拥有它。
Non-Allergic (Intrinsic) Asthma。Some children have asthma triggered by something other than allergens. Examples include:
Chemicals in cigarette smoke
空气污染
病毒感染（RSV)
Gastrointestinal contents (GERD)
Cold and dry air
Hot and humid air
Anxiety and depression
Exercise (especially incold, dry air)
严重程度。过敏性哮喘通常不会导致气道重塑或疤痕，有时会发生内在的哮喘。出于这个原因，儿童哮喘患者通常具有较小的严重哮喘，对皮质类固醇响应良好。
Asthma Treatment。This makes it easier to control with asthma controller medicines such as Advair, Symbicort, Dulera, Breo, Flovent, Asmanex, and Pulmicort. Since every asthmatic is unique, finding out哪种药品最佳is often a matter of trial and error. Most asthma experts recommend all asthmatics have an哮喘救援吸入器如沙丁胺醇在附近，始终是那些不可避免的哮喘爆发。
Allergy Treatment。Allergy testing may help a physician diagnose allergies. Treatment usually involves efforts to avoid allergens, or medicines such as Claritin, Zyrtec, Benadryl, and Singulair.
Preventing and controlling allergies is often the best way to prevent and control asthma.
Remission。Physicians used to tell asthmatics children that they wouldoutgrow their asthma。Modern evidence suggests this is not true, that asthma never truly goes away. However, sometimes it does go into remission. One theory is that once children go through puberty their airways become larger and less sensitive. Another is that older children are less likely to expose themselves to their asthma triggers. For instance, older kids are less likely to crawl under dusty porches, or play in pollen-filled forests.
Conclusion。The good news is that, while there is no cure for asthma, it can be controlled by avoiding and controllingasthma triggers, and by taking asthma controller medicines on a daily basis, such as inhaled corticosteroids. By working with a physician and following a treatment plan, asthma may appear to go into remission.
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