Asthma affects all races and all ages, and it is the most common chronic childhood illness. Asthma in child is most likely to occur before age five. Young children are especially open to attack because their lungs are still developing. It can develop as early as infancy, although most childhood asthma appears between ages 2 and 5, which is when antibodies to inhalant allergens increase in a child's body. Among adults, asthma usually appears for the first time between the ages of 30 and 39. About 10 percent of new cases occur in people ages 65 and older.

Childhood asthma affects boys more than girls around the age of 12; however, girls with asthma begin to outnumber boys after they experience their first menstrual periods. Many think that hormones may be another asthma trigger.

The signs and symptoms of asthma in child are mostly the same as for adults: wheezing, coughing shortness of breath, chest tightness, rapid breathing and exercise intolerance. In addition, asthma kids may have itchy, watery eyes; stuffy, runny nose; sore throat; dark circles under the eyes; flared nostrils; labored breathing; and hunched posture. Recent colds, flu, bronchitis or pneumonia may indicate asthma. Infants with asthma may refuse to suck, and may cough continuously, wheeze or generally act fussy.

Teach your child how to do deep breathing and practice the technique regularly. Deep breathing helps to keep lungs clear, increases air supply, and is critical exercise needed in stimulating normal lung growth. And it is also a good way to raise mental alertness and to assert control over the situation when your child feels and asthma coming on. In fact, deep breathing is a best form of relaxation training for asthma child. Long, slow, deep breaths give your child's diaphragm a good workout. Your child's diaphragm is the muscular partition that separates her abdominal cavity from the rib-enclosed space where her lungs and heart lie; when your child raises her diaphragm it pushes against her lungs, helping her to exhale; when she lower it by inhaling, she creates a kind of vacuum that helps to pull additional air into the lungs as they increase in size.

Asthma can be dangerous. If the situation persists, carbon dioxide builds up in the body and the person may experience respiratory failure - meaning, in effect, he could pass out and die. Most medications for adult asthma are used for child, with adjustments in dosage and method of distribution. However, some youngsters cannot tolerate particular drugs because, in them, those drugs produce bothersome side effects. Theophylline intolerances are common, for instance. For those cases, many people try to use some natural asthma relief products and get a pretty good result. These kinds of medication help to reduces asthma symptoms and avoid attacks, even when exercising or at night.