Health Tips for December 6

Health Tip: Managing Your Child's Asthma

It's difficult to prevent your child's asthma symptoms entirely, but you can help control them so they don't interfere with your youngster's daily life. The American Lung Association offers this advice about controlling asthma: Avoid any triggers, which commonly include allergens, cigarette smoke and strenuous exercise. Talk to your child's pediatrician about asthma-controlling medications. Consider allergy shots. Although research is still being done on their effectiveness against asthma, they are proven in preventing allergic reactions that can be associated with asthma symptoms. Both you and your child should be well-educated about ways to manage asthma, including the use of an asthma inhaler and how to evaluate breathing with a peak flow monitor. Health Tip: Checking Your Peak Flow Measuring peak flow is important for asthmatics, as it monitors how well you can blow air from your lungs and may even help predict a pending asthma attack. Peak flow is measured with a specially designed meter. The U.S. National Library of Medicine says some asthmatics should keep a peak flow diary. Here are the agency's suggestions for what to record: The number of each peak flow reading. Any symptoms or possible triggers that preceded an asthma attack. Any recent changes affecting your asthma medications.