Kids' Asthma: Often Misunderstood
A recent survey shows that more than half of the five million American children with asthma don't have their symptoms under control and fall far short of national treatment goals. The survey also reveals a significant communication gap between parents and kids about their asthma.
In addition, the survey showed widespread misunderstanding about the causes of and treatments for asthma symptoms.
Dr. Norman Edelman, a medical consultant for the American Lung Association, tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm that, although many people don't realize it, asthma is a very serious and sometimes deadly disease. Five thousand of the fifteen million Americans who have asthma die from it each year.
In the survey, four out of five respondents reported that their or their child's asthma was under control, yet children missed the mark on nearly every treatment goal established by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Sometimes, Edelman explains, symptoms such as coughing or waking up in the middle of the night are not recognized as asthma. People know about wheezing and shortness of breath, but even then if those occur after exercise, they're sometimes disregarded as just fatigue from overwork, or the coach or gym teacher thinks the child is just trying to get out of doing that last lap around the track, he tells Storm.
When comparing responses of parents and their children with asthma who were 10- to 15-years-old, the survey showed that 71 percent of parents and their children disagreed about the child's overall health status.
Often, parents and children see the child's asthma differently because they're just asking the wrong questions, Edelman points out. The child may be using his inhaler everyday at school, but considering that normal. So, when the parent asks the child how his or her asthma is, the child just answers that it's OK, not realizing it should be controlled better.
The parent needs to ask more specific questions. Edelman poinyd out, such as, "Did you use your inhaler today? Did you get out of breath during gym? Did you sleep through the night? Did you wake up with tightness in your chest?"
Edelman stresses to Storm that parents and children need a written action plan that includes the parent, child, teachers, friends, coaches, school nurse - everyone who might be involved.
The survey, done for Children and Asthma in America, reveals that 54 percent of children with asthma had a severe asthma attack in the past year and 27 percent had an asthma attack so bad they thought their life was in danger.