Managing Your Child’s Asthma

Once a child is diagnosed with asthma, typically by a pediatrician, internist or allergist, Fishkin says parents often are not equipped with the proper education and tools to best manage the disease, which is not curable. Whether a child has intermittent (meaning symptoms aren’t daily), mild persistent, moderate persistent, or severe persistent asthma, physicians must closely monitor the child’s disease as it can progress and worsen.

“At least 40 percent of all asthma patients in America are under-treated,” Fishkin explains.

This isn’t a case of doctors not giving children the appropriate type of medication necessary. According to Fishkin, this proves how hard it is for children to provide an accurate picture of their health status. For instance, if your child is having monthly check- ups, he may have an appointment on a good health day, one where his peak-flow reading at the clinic is of average to normal levels. (A peak-flow reader is a device you blow into that measures your lung capacity.) However, that child might have had two full weeks during that month where he experienced shortness of breath, coughed and wheezed at school and during exercise. If the physician doesn’t know this, he can hardly determine program. For that reason, Fishkin strongly encourages parents to conduct daily peak-flow readings for their children—especially their young children with asthma. If your child doesn’t tell you what he did during his day at pre-school, you can imagine that he isn’t necessarily going to tell you every time he has asthma symptoms—especially since many children desperately want to fit in and can internalize asthma as something shameful, or something separating them from their peers.

“The peak-flow reader is what I call the weather man. If the parent can see that a child is blowing at low levels, she’ll be able to get her child treated early—before the symptoms get severe. It’s an invaluable tool.”

“Most parents want to make it better. We’re not giving enough information, or not in a way they can best understand. As physicians, we must educate the family with the sick child,” Fishkin reiterates.