Asthma is very common among children, teens and adults. It is a disease that causes the airways of the lungs to tighten.
An asthma attack is when your lungs aren’t getting enough air to breathe. Your child might be having an asthma attack if he or she has:

• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Coughing
• Chest pain
• Chest tightness

Although the disease can begin in infancy, it is often difficult to diagnose asthma in young children. Nevertheless, these children require treatment Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood affecting 12.5 % of children. There are two types of triggers: allergic and non-allergic.

Triggers are things in your environment that cause the inflammation and afterwards, tightening of the airway muscles. Triggers are everywhere. Triggers can be allergic such as dust mites or non allergic such as exercise, viral infections, smoke or other irritants. It is important to identify both allergic and non-allergic triggers and develop avoidance control strategies. Only those with allergic asthma have symptoms triggered by allergens such a pet dander, pollen and dust mites.

Causes and Risk Factors of Asthma in Children
The incidence of asthma has risen dramatically in the past 20 years, a period far too short to reflect any significant changes in the gene pool. This supports the important role that environmental influences (allergy, infection, lifestyle, and diet) have on the development of asthma. There is a strong hereditary factor associated with the disease. There is a strong hereditary factor associated with the disease.

The Patients and their family may have a history of asthma, atopic dermatitis (eczema, an itchy skin rash), and allergic rhinitis (hay fever). In fact, a number of studies have shown that a majority of children who develop asthma have allergies as a trigger for the asthma. Often a child develops eczema, then develops allergic nasal symptoms ("hay fever") and then asthma. This progression has been termed the "allergic march".

A genetic role in asthma has long been suspected, primarily due to the clustering of cases within families and the concordance for asthma in identical twins. Several studies conclude that heredity increases ones chances of developing asthma, particularly if allergies or other allergic conditions are present. Moreover, one may pass this tendency to asthma to the next generation. So, what are the chances that a child will develop asthma?

• 6.5% of families in which neither parent has asthma have a child with asthma.
• 28% of families in which one parent has asthma have a child with asthma.
• 63% of families in which both parents have asthma have at least one child with asthma.

When triggered by stimulus (see examples below), certain cells lining the airways release chemical substances called mediators that lead to inflammation. This inflammation causes the airway passages to swell, the cells lining the passages to produce excess mucus, and the airway opening to narrow. Hyper reactivity means that when the bronchi are exposed to stimulus they respond in an exaggerated way by constricting the airway muscle and making it difficult to breathe.

Some "triggers" that can induce an asthma attack are:

• allergens (substances to which people are allergic), such as pollens, foods, dust, mold, feathers or animal dander
• irritants in the air, such as dirt, cigarette smoke, gases and air pollution
• odors in the household, such as household cleaners, perfumes, paints, varnishes, fabric softeners, laundry detergents and cooking fumes
• irritants in the workplace, such as fumes and vapors from wood products and metals
• metabisulfite - a food preservative found in dried fruits, fruit juices, beer, wine, salad bars and vegetables
• respiratory infections, such as colds, flu, sore throat and bronchitis
• exercise
• emotional stress, such as excessive fear or excitement
• weather conditions - very cold, windy or sudden changes in the weather
• medications, such as aspirin or related drugs, as well as some drugs used to treat glaucoma and high blood pressure

Nighttime - Asthma often worsens at night for a few reasons. The body releases chemicals during the night that may alter lung function. Also, the body's temperature tends to drop at night, which causes the airways to cool. Lastly, an exposure to allergens during the day may take up to several hours to affect the body. Asthma occurring during the nighttime (called nocturnal asthma) even if mild is considered dangerous. If you or your child have even mild asthma symptoms during the night, it is important that you tell your doctor.

No one really knows why more and more children are developing asthma. Some experts suggest that children are being exposed to more and more allergens such as dust, air pollution, and second-hand smoke. These factors all are triggers of asthma. Others suspect that children are not exposed to enough childhood illnesses to build up their immune system. It appears that a disorder of the immune system where the body fails to make enough protective antibodies may play a role in causing asthma.
And still others suggest that decreasing rates of breastfeeding have prevented important substances of the immune system from being passed on to babies.

Signs and symptoms to look for include:

• Frequent coughing spells, which may occur during play, at night, or while laughing. It is important to know that cough may be the only symptom present.
• Less energy during play
• Rapid breathing
• Complaint of chest tightness or chest "hurting"
• Whistling sound (wheezing) when breathing in or out
• See-saw motions (retractions) in the chest from labored breathing
• Shortness of breath, loss of breath
• Tightened neck and chest muscles
• Feelings of weakness or tiredness

Keep in mind that not all children have the same asthma symptoms, and these symptoms can vary from asthma episode to the next episode in the same child. Also note that not all wheezing or coughing is caused by asthma.
In kids under 5 years of age, the most common cause of asthma-like symptoms is upper respiratory viral infections such as the common cold. If your child has problem breathing, take him or her to the doctor immediately for an evaluation.

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Symptoms of Asthma in Children
During an asthma attack, constriction of the airway and swelling and mucus secretion tend to close the smaller airways. To compensate, the person breathes at a higher lung volume to keep the air flowing through the airways. The greater the airway limitation, the higher the lung volume must be to keep the airways open. This process leads to the following symptoms of asthma:

• wheezing
• cough - chronic or recurring (worse particularly at night and in the early hours of the morning)
• pain or a tight feeling in the chest
• shortness of breath
• flaring of the nostrils when breathing in (especially in children)
• interrupted talking
• agitation
• hyperinflation (appearance of hunched shoulders, hunching forward or preferring not to lie down)

Parents may notice their child has less stamina during active playtime than his or her peers. Or the child may limit his or her activity to prevent coughing or wheezing. The child may have heavy breathing, shortness of breath, and wheezing at rest or with exercise. These symptoms may be subtle and only recognized during activity.

If accompanied by infection, the child may have a fever, runny nose, and cough and be irritable. The more subtle signs of asthma, such as chest tightness, may be overlooked or not identified by a child. In severe cases, the patient may have bluish skin around the lips and fingers.

Once a person's airways become sensitive due to asthma, they remain that way for life. However, about 50% of children experience a noticeable decrease in asthma symptoms by the time they become adolescents, therefore appearing to have "outgrown" their asthma. About half of these children will develop symptoms again in their 30's and/or 40's. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict whose symptoms will decrease during adolescence and whose will return later in life.

Homoeopathic Medicines Act by:
Relieving Symptoms Like
1. Shortness of breath,
2. Wheezing
3. Coughing
4. Chest tightness
Preventing exacerbations (attacks):
Homoeopathic medicines prevent any exacerbations at fist prolonging the time between episodes and later preventing their occurrence leading to permanent cure.

Controlling and curing the disease process: Homoeopathic medicines offer permanent cure in asthma they act by helping in decreasing the hyperactivity of immune cells, curtailing the individual’s immune response against allergens (triggers), thus decreasing their hyper-sensitivity towards triggering stimuli. The development of allergic conditions is multifactorial and depends upon interaction between susceptible genes and environmental factors. Thus homoeopathy with its deep acting constitutional remedies offers excellent results.

Our medicines have not to be taken for life time. Once cured the patients develops immunity towards the triggering stimulus which is maintained even after medication is stopped.
We at DRSS provide our patients with diet charts, exercise schedules and guide them how to modify their lifestyle so that better results can be achieved. Our medicines can be started with conventional treatment depending upon the disease state and case which can the curtailed later. Homoeopathic medicines if taken under proper guidance from a well qualified professional are extremely safe and have no side effects.