Hurrah, it's summer, and a good reason to celebrate the chance to scoot your children outdoors for some clean, pollen-free fresh air. This is especially important if your child has asthma, the lung condition that causes a variety of breathing problems.
Asthma is one of the most widespread chronic diseases of childhood, affecting up to one in four urban children. In fact, in the U.S., children miss more than 14 million days of school every year because of this lung ailment. It's also one of the common reasons children younger than 15 years of age need hospital care.
Childhood asthma on the rise
The American Lung Association reports that childhood asthma has risen nearly 100% in the last 20 years. Four million children suffered an asthma attack in 2003, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
No one knows for sure why the number of children with asthma is increasing, but asthma experts have suggested a number of reasons.
For one, children today spend more time indoors. They are exposed to more indoor allergens like cigarette smoke, pets, mold and dust and fumes from toxic household cleaners.
Children today are also exposed to fewer viruses and bacteria than they were many years ago because of improved living conditions. Our sedentary lifestyle has led to overweight youngsters who exercise less, conditions that may contribute to asthma breathing problems.
What is asthma?
Asthma is a condition that affects the airways - the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When a person with asthma comes into contact with an asthma trigger, the muscle around the walls of the airways tightens so that the airway becomes narrower. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell. Often sticky mucus or phlegm is produced, causing the airways to become narrower and irritated - leading to the symptoms of asthma.
Asthma causes are different for everybody
The causes of asthma are not the same for everyone. Some people develop asthma because of the way their bodies react to infection - mainly viral infection.
Other people have asthma because they have allergies to certain substances in the environment.
Reduce triggers that make asthma worse
Asthma symptoms (like coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath) are usually "triggered" by something that irritates your lungs. Some common triggers are:
o Dust
o Smoke from cigarettes
o Strong smells from household cleaners or perfumes
o Mold or mildew
o Colds or flu
o Dogs, cats or other animals with fur
o Cockroaches
o Pet birds
o Pollen from trees, grasses and weeds
o Cold or warm air
Here's what you can do: improve the indoor air quality
A person's breathing problems, which can range from mild to life threatening, can usually be controlled with a combination of drugs and environmental changes.
In particular, improving the indoor quality of air in your home seems to help asthma sufferers. Wherever possible, get rid of the common allergens in your home.
A child's immune system is under-developed
Children are more susceptible than adults to environmentally caused asthma, which appears to be on the rise. Because a child's immune system is not yet fully developed, he or she cannot flush out environmental toxins--such as those found in some household cleaners--the way an adult can.
Link found between cleaning products and wheezing
Is there a link between wheezing (an asthma symptom) in toddlers and prenatal exposure to some household cleaning products? Research seems to suggest so.
In a report published in the journal Thorax, scientists at the University of Bristol followed a group of 7,000 children from birth to age three and a half to examine health patterns. For this study researchers asked pregnant women how many times they used household cleaning products such as bleach, disinfectant, carpet and window cleaners in the home.
After the children were born the researchers recorded how many times they wheezed and compared their exposure to chemical products while in the womb. Researchers found the higher the exposure to the chemicals, the more likely the children were to wheeze, even taking into account other factors such as parental smoking, contact with pets and damp housing.
Dr. Andrea Sherriff, who led the study, said "We can't say the products caused the wheezing. We can only say we observed an association."
Children more susceptible than adults
The study reminds us that children are more susceptible than adults to environmentally caused illnesses. You only have to know what goes into many home cleaners--to realize that most cleaning chemicals are not good for you or the environment. Citrus, which is a terpine, is a common example of a supposedly natural ingredient that is found in many household detergents and all-purpose cleaners. It is an allergen and can degrade indoor air quality.
Now for the good news. You can buy a new variety of household cleaning products that will not cause allergies or degrade indoor air quality. One such product is Zero-Tox (http://www.zerotoxcleaner.com), a 100% safe, non-toxic cleaning alternative. Because Zero-Tox contains no terpine, chlorine, petroleum, or ammonia, it is safe for safe for asthma sufferers, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems. So you can enjoy a cleaner house, and a cleaner conscience.
So, breathe easy. Your children will too. Now get them outside and enjoying the rest of the summer.