Asthma is an obstructive respiratory condition characterized by recurrent attacks of shortness of breath, wheezing, rapid breathing and an irritated cough.
Between the ages of 3 and 8 years asthma can be found in children.
Wheezing, a whistle type sound, is caused when the air flows into the lungs during an asthma attack.
When the child exhales normally, mild wheezing happens, and when he exhales deeply, more severe wheezing sounds are heard.
In case of extreme asthma, wheezing may be absent as no air is passing through airways.
Coughing in asthma may be chronic or recurring, and worsens at night or the early morning hours.
From time to time a cough may be the single symptom of asthma, particularly in any asthma aggravated by exercise, or asthma occurring in nighttime only.
In nocturnal asthma a cough occurs more often than not in the early hours of the morning.
Tightness and pain in the chest are mostly found in exercise induced asthma.
A child may feel tightness and pain in his chest and have no other symptoms of asthma in this case.
Other childhood asthma symptoms include Breathlessness Rapid breathing Flaring of the nostrils when breathing in Interrupted talking Asthma symptom during a milder asthma episode may include the child feeling breathlessness during an asthma attack, or after a simple physical walk they may feel restless.
During a moderately severe episode of asthma attack, a child may feel breathless during speech; a baby with asthma may have a softer, shorter cry, and the child may not be able to finish the usual amount of their feeding.
During more relentless episode of asthma this type of asthma attack, a symptom children may feel includes being out of breathe while at rest, talking in words but not in sentences.
Infants will not feed in this situation or may be restless during feeding.