<Like this article? Visit our website www.asthmacare.us >
May 17, 2010 — Children who suffer from severe, persistent asthma are nearly 32 times more likely to develop chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) in adulthood, according to a study spanning nearly half a century.
That conclusion is based on data from the Melbourne Asthma Study, which includes children born in 1957 who were recruited at age 7 and tracked until their 50th birthdays. At the time they were recruited, the children were placed into four groups: those who did not experience wheezing or asthma symptoms, those who experienced occasional asthma symptoms such as wheezing associated with a viral respiratory infection, those who had persistent asthma not associated with a viral respiratory infection, and those who had severe, persistent asthma.
The objective was to determine which children developed COPD as adults. At age 50, 197 of the surviving participants answered a detailed questionnaire and underwent lung function testing. COPD was identified in 28 of the participants and was found to be more common among males. There was a direct correlation between the severity of the asthma as a child and the incidence of COPD as an adult. (source: WebMD, Childhood Asthma Linked to Risk of COPD)
While parents of asthmatic children are trying to do their best to follow the doctor’s prescribed medication regimen and hope that their child will eventually outgrow asthma, years of daily drug use, frequent respiratory infections and limited physical activity takes a toll on children with persistent asthma.
Moreover, a dangerous trend among many trying-to-please doctors and anxious parents is that they encourage a child to overuse fast-acting relievers, nebulizers and peak flow meters. Relievers are meant to be nothing more than as-needed, emergency medication for temporary relief of symptoms. Instead, they are often used either as a preventative measure or at the slightest sign that a child is unwell.
All that dramatically increases an asthmatic child’s hyperventilation, and the vicious circle is started. Together with limited sports participation, the emotional trauma of dealing with a chronic health condition, as well as unhealthy food and school stresses, those influences cause over-breathing to reach a critical point, and a child becomes even more prone to asthma symptoms and attacks.
Struggling with persistent airway inflammation, the side effects of long-term drug use and frequent bacterial and fungal infections, a young body becomes susceptible to COPD development later in life.
If you are a parent who thinks that your child’s asthma is well managed with medication, supplements and strained athletic participation, I urge you to think about a better way to address the root of the problem. Your child’s body is weak not because it is deficient in bronchodilators, and strained physical activity made possible by extra doses of albuterol is not going to significantly improve your child’s health. The simple truth is – your child’s well-being is stressed by a modern lifestyle, which encourages the development of over-breathing which is hazardous to our health. Once a faulty breathing pattern is corrected and lifestyle adjustments are made, you child’s body won’t have a reason to throw airway constriction and inflammation as defense against over-breathing. Therefore, asthma will subside on its own.
Pediatric asthma is a scary, life-threatening condition, and as a parent myself, I understand the difficult position parents of asthmatic children are in. It is crucial to follow prescribed preventative medication regimens and closely monitor your child’s asthma. But, by giving the Buteyko Breathing Technique a persistent effort, similar, if not better, results could be achieved with much less medication and therefore, less future health risks.
Lung disease, including COPD, is a number three killer in America and causes one in seven deaths in this country each year. The Buteyko Method could be a life saver for your child and could give you peace of mind that you, as a parent, deserve.
——————————————————————————————————-
Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.
