World Asthma Day 2018 : Help Your Toddler

Millions of people in this world suffer from Asthma, which makes their daily life difficult for them, thus, urging them to be dependent up on their inhaler to make life a little less cruel on them. Celebrated on 1st May every year, World Asthma Day is dedicated to raise awareness about this disease and bring advanced care options to sufferers all around the globe.

History Of World Asthma Day

World Asthma Day was established in 1998 by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Most of us are aware of asthma in a shallow manner, thus, not knowing the root cause of the same, nature of the disease as well as the truth of various types of asthma being present. Asthma isn’t understood well in depth by many and we even fail to understand that there are versatile factors that contribute in the rise of this disease. Hence, came up the need to devote our attention to Asthma Day. The known aggravators of asthma are many and include everything from allergens, air pollution, and other chemicals that can appear in the environment that irritate the lungs. In high enough concentrations these factors can cause serious asthma attacks in sufferers and aggravate cases that are otherwise mild. Asthma persists in areas with low air quality, which also happens to be the homes and surroundings of people belonging to low or moderate income groups. Psychological stress is also known to be the added cause of this disease.

Significance Of Raising Asthma Awareness

We know that people suffering from asthma are at constant discomfort, making it a difficult condition to bear but a few of us are aware of how this situation can be a fatal one. People tend to classify asthma with mild discomfort, which minimizes the value of good management and advancement in terms of research. By celebrating this day, necessary measures can be taken to ensure a better quality of life for those suffering from this deadly disease. With millions of people suffering from asthma, a number of people frequently end up missing school, work and are rushed to emergency every now and then, which is why this day focuses on the need of asthma management strategies.

Helping Children With Asthma

If you are the parent of a child with Asthma, here are some ways that will help you in managing your child.

1. You must always keep up with the doctor appointments and never miss out on one. This will help you in keeping a track of child’s progress
2. Bouts of asthma attacks are common but if you notice your child’s condition worsening then immediately get medical attention
3. Vaccinate against seasonal influenza. Studies in children show that getting a flu shot reduces the risk of coming down with the flu and, because viral infections typically worsen asthma, asthma flares
4. Encourage your child to have colourful fruits and vegetables, which support respiratory and immune health
5. Encourage your child to wash his/her hands regularly, which will prevent spreading of the germs
6. Since stress contributes to rise in asthma, teach your child various methods to combat stress, such as indulging in exercises, yoga and meditation techniques

World Asthma Day Activities

On World Asthma Day, National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) is organize, which encourages the sufferers of asthma to look after themselves. People having asthma are encouraged for the written asthma action plan (AAP) through their healthcare provider to fulfil the specific needs of the asthmatic patients such as accurate medications to get prevented from the airway inflammations and environmental causes of asthma like dust mites and tobacco smoke. Read more on how to prevent asthma in your children.  

APP is a big step taken by the NAEPP to bring together the clinicians, patients and others taking care of the asthmatic patients to work together in order to gain control over asthma. Patients of persistent asthma are motivated through many activities for using inhaled corticosteroids to get successful control over the asthma. Some of the activities are:

• AAP aims highlighting the daily basis control over asthma and handling its symptoms or asthma attacks
• Free check-up camps are organized to assess the severity of asthma among people to initiate the best treatment
• Patients are motivated for their scheduled follow-up visits at the periodic intervals of six months and controlling the environmental exposures to get prevented from allergens or irritants
• Asthma Societies in many countries celebrates World Asthma Day on a national level
• New asthma clinics and pharmacy clinics are opened in the required areas
• TV channels and news channels distributes messages like “fighting asthma with every breath” and other awareness messages to reach to the public
• Quiz competitions, debate, symposium etc on the subject of asthma are organized in the schools, colleges and pharmacies throughout the country
• Classes are taken by the teachers on the subjects of asthma prevention and precaution methods
• Asthma awareness posters and banners are distributed and applied in the most vulnerable areas to increases public awareness

By pitching for better understanding and management of asthma, we can help direct focus and attention to research and health initiatives. Asthma is a chronic and serious disease, and though many patients are able to control their symptoms, there is still a long way to go to improve the prognosis for every asthma sufferer.  

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