Asthma in childhood

Can anyone give me any info on childhood asthma - websites with info, likelihood of "growing out of it" or anything else that might help?

Finn's apparently got asthma, and has been prescribed salbutamol in suspension form since apparently an inhaler would be useless for him to get the full dose of medication while he's so young.

Cheers guys.

[bikuki]

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/searc...me=&firstpage=

I give you the BMJ

**edit** http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/conte...resourcetype=1
^^ this one looks promising

[Bunnylingus]

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/asthma/

Lots of different bits of info.

Does he have hayfever by the way? I know its a long way off but its a good idea to get that sorted as early in the year as possible, can be a nightmare if youve got asthma.

I don't really like the BMJ cos I find it talks far too much in technical medical language that confuses me

(if you fancy translating it into worried-mumish, that would be grand. i.e. is he likely to die, and will he still have it when he's older, and can he still be a professional footballer if he so desires )

*edit*

Nah he's not got hay fever, or hasn't had anyway - he doesn't seem to have the typical asthma allergies either, since he literally spends hours snuggling up with a cat and a dog.

[feistyfairie]

We where told Jayden had astma aswell when he was about 18month old! but i wasnt too sure i asked my HV and she told me to get them to xray his lungs to double check as she felt they just palm alot of parents off with the astma excuse all the time and it turned out his lungs are totally clear and it was a whole other issue he had! im glad i did it as the steroids can play havoc with them

[bikuki]

I was weird - didn't develop any of my atopic allergies until I was in my teens (well, apart from hayfever, which I had as a child and now think I've grown out of ).

I've got uni in an hour, but I'll give it a quick once over and translate the important bits

[Bunnylingus]

Originally Posted by Niobe

I don't really like the BMJ cos I find it talks far too much in technical medical language that confuses me

(if you fancy translating it into worried-mumish, that would be grand. i.e. is he likely to die, and will he still have it when he's older, and can he still be a professional footballer if he so desires )

*edit*

Nah he's not got hay fever, or hasn't had anyway - he doesn't seem to have the typical asthma allergies either, since he literally spends hours snuggling up with a cat and a dog.

I had a cat, and my neighbours had dogs, I had problems with dust though, and when it was cold I had to double up on my inhalers, to make sure nothing got to my chest. That site seems pretty straightforward.

Cheers Vicki, I had a quick look at the specific article you pointed out but it seems to be arguing with itself

feisty - he's been suspected of having asthma for 3 years, and today was the first proper diagnosis - I'm certain that they have it right, but he'll get a chest x-ray at his asthma clinic appointment. It was because his chest was clear, and not full of mucus that the Doctor checked his peak flow because he's had a hideous nocturnal cough for literally years.

BL - it's the cold that hits Finn too, that's when the night time wheezing gets bad

[bikuki]

Right, they're saying that there's some evidence that children who develop asthma before the age of 7 are likely to not have it carry on into adulthood. Between half and a two thirds of cases of asthma in childhood are grown out of.
The only permanent change to his lungs would be if he has regular attacks - if he does, scar tissue in his lungs will build up and affect his breathing in the future. However, if he is kept well controlled and taught well how to use inhalers from a young age, then there's no reason why he can't be as active as any other child or adult.
Think yourself really lucky, though. I'm pretty sure I had asthma from childhood, but it was so mild that I never really had anything done about it - until I had an attack on holiday, so I went to the doc and he said it WASN'T asthma, and to stop wasting his time. I go back 6 months later with the same symptoms to another doctor, and they say it definately IS asthma, and I ended up on steroids and inhalers.

So it's excellent that he was caught so early before he has actually had a full-on attack.

[feistyfairie]

Jayden used to spew out loads o snot with the night coughing! Anyway i hope his meds start working soon ((hugz)) to him

Aye that's what I thought Vicki

FF - apparently if it's a productive cough, it's not asthma - asthma would be a dry cough because it's basically the lungs attempting to draw in more air.