What to Do When Child Suffers from Asthma or Sleep Issues?

Worldwide, asthma and other respiratory problems including respiratory infections remain a major childhood medical concern. Some of the most common symptoms of childhood asthma include frequent coughing that lingers on for days, a whistling or wheezing sound when breathing out, shortness of breath particularly on exertion and play, chest congestion or tightness and night time coughing. While, its precise causes still remain unknown, researchers have recognisedthat environmental factors can interact with underlying genetic make-upto contribute to the development of asthma symptoms. Additionally, in children, untreated or undertreated asthma may leadto major sleep disturbancesthat can further worsen asthma symptoms. Yet, asthma and its complications, although incurable, can be managed well so that a child may live a normal life. To help children and parents manage this conditionbetter it is important to consult a children’s lung specialist who specialises on asthma and sleep.

These respiratory issues coupled with sleeping disturbances and other associated problems can have serious implications on a child, restricting their day to day activities. Inadequate sleep can affect the overall health, and  may affect their educational performance and  ability to participate in extracurricular activities. Untreated asthma can have serious impact in the quality of life. It affects the physical and emotional wellbeing of the children and may have a far reaching and long standing complication on reaching their adult potential.

Persistent coughing is one of the tell-tale signs of asthma. In this blog I will discuss more about the asthmatic cough and how to understand the symptoms of these chronic conditions:

Coughs can arise from anywhere in the nose, windpipe and lungs. Usually, cough can be of two types - productive (wet phlegm producing cough) and non-productive (dry or irritating). Cough is a natural protective reflex mechanism that  helps expel harmful foreign particles from the lungs to prevent a potential infection of the lungs. In most cases of asthma, the cough is considered non-productive and dry. This may be associated with a whistling or wheezing arising from the chest. Sometimes cough may be subtle and can only be heard when the child is playing or laughing. The presence of subtle cough during sleep especially in the early morning hours could also indicate the presence of asthma.Along with cough, the children may also get sneezing and watery eyes and this may reflect allergy.

The other topic I wanted to highlight is sleep. Sleep is an important part of our life and it takes a lot of our time where the body regenerates from a day of hard work. Sleep is vital for the proper functioning and development of the human body. Sleep can be affected because of a variety of reasons that can include chronic conditions like asthma or big tonsils and adenoids (also known as sleep apnoea or sleep disordered breathing). In fact, a number of conditions affect sleep but unless a full assessment of sleep through careful history and appropriate tests are done, it may not be possible to address these issues. Also, one has to remember that the quality of sleep is as important as the duration of sleep. Sleep that is frequently disturbed (broken sleep architecture) where the child wakes up frequently (multiple arousals) is associated with lack of energy or hyperactivity, challenging behaviour, poor attention span and inability to concentrate leading educational underachievement. Often such children are labelled as ‘lazy’ , ‘disruptive’ and ‘not focussed’. Identification of the problem needs input from a paediatric lung specialist looking after sleep conditions. Dramatic improvements can be noted if corrective management is undertaken and the results could be very rewarding. 

If you suspect, your child to suffer from asthma or sleep related issues, you must talk to the paediatrician who is a specialist on asthma and sleep . In my experience, I have seen many children who have been suffering from asthma for years and this reflects sometimes the lack of awareness among parents and physicians. Proper treatment is required to bring a complete control on the symptoms and this can be better achieved and child lung asthma and sleep specialists are best placed to manage such children. Finding a cough specialist is sometimes challenging and searching Google for best “cough specialist near me” or “paediatric sleep specialist near me” often is helpful in choosing the right route to get proper advice and support.