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Hypertension & more ::
pediactric asthma
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Living with pediactric asthma -- how to control asthma stress
Even for an adult, that's a highly stressful thought. According to researchers, there is a link between asthma stress and occurrence of the disease in childhood. The presence of asthma causes stress. In turn, the stress tends to worsen the illness. It's a negative spiral. The other factor is that when there is pediactric asthma patient at home, it puts stress on the whole household. The parents and siblings live with the anxiety of having to witness the child suffering helplessly, and of having to rush her to the hospital at all times of the day and night. Unfortunately, the tension on the family members adds to the stress burden on the child. It contributes to the negative spiral mentioned earlier. How do you cope with asthma in children? The most important factor is probably having a clearly laid out treatment plan and complying with it at all times. Studies show that even today, many families misunderstand the nature of asthma and treat it only when symptoms appear in the child. That's dangerous. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology states that many families with asthmatic children tend to operate in crisis mode. Meaning, they go along as if everything is normal and no preventive steps need to be taken until an attack occurs and there's a frantic trip to the hospital. That approach has the potential to put the child's life at risk, apart from increasing stress levels for all concerned. You need to get a clear asthma treatment plan. That includes dealing with the environment to control potential allergens, medication and specific steps to be taken when there is an asthma attack. Most importantly, the plan needs to be under implementation at all times. Having a plan and implementing it gives the family and the child a feeling that they are in control of the asthma rather than the asthma controlling them. This, in itself, is a great stress-buster. There's no doubt that an asthma management plan instills confidence in all concerned. Plus of course, it gives you the roadmap to follow to minimize the chances of an attack occurring as well as to deal with it effectively when it does happen. And that's the key to managing pediactric asthma and the stress associated with it.
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