Living With Asthma: Are You Killing Your Children?

It's a parent's worst nightmare.

The death of a child is unimaginably traumatic for anybody, but it's even more unbearable to think that you might have been, at least in part, responsible.

A study carried out by the Royal College of Physicians has found that almost every asthma-related child death recorded in the last few years could have been prevented.

There are roughly 1,250 asthma deaths yearly in the UK. And among children, the National Review of Asthma Deaths discovered that 13 out of every 14 could have survived were the circumstances even slightly different.

What this tells us, is that our youngsters are not receiving the care they really need.

The biggest problem, it turns out, is complacency.

Because asthma symptoms come and go, we are getting lazy about ensuring our children receive the proper medication.

This doesn't just mean administering symptom-relieving inhalers in the case of an attack. We need to be making sure that our children receive regular doses of preventative medication too.

The study also showed that, in many cases, asthma sufferers' primary carers were not properly educated when it came to recognising and responding to symptoms.

Parents are not solely to blame, of course.

Worryingly, the report also showed a horrifying number of "prescribing errors" - meaning GPs are guilty of failing to arrange appropriate medication.

A scary thought!

But we need to remember that, when it comes to our children, we as parents must hold ourselves responsible for the primary care.

In light of this, here are some things to bear in mind when looking out for the welfare of a child with asthma:

- Document the Triggers - The review found that more than half of those who had died didn't have any documentation about what triggered their attacks. And 57 per cent were not under any kind of specialist supervision in the months leading up to their death.

Keep a diary of all of your child's triggers. This will allow you to spot the warning signs and prevent an attack before it begins.

- Prevention is Key - There are two common types of asthma medication - the sort that treats asthma when it's in full swing and the kind that you take regularly to prevent the symptoms from occurring.

The study found that preventative medication is widely underused. Don't wait until it's too late - make sure your child is taking the right kind of medication at the right time, even if they aren't displaying any symptoms.

- Don't Smoke - It's obvious, right? Apparently not. The review found that a huge number of those who had died had been exposed to first or second hand smoke.

The best advice we can give you is to not smoke at all. But if you absolutely have to, you should not be doing it in the home or around your children, regardless of whether they have asthma or not.

- Wise Up - Read all about it. Knowledge is power and all that.

You don't have to totally mollycoddle your asthmatic child, but you should definitely be educated about their affliction.

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- Get a Second Opinion - You should be able to trust your doctor. Of course you should. Unfortunately though, this isn't always the case.

If you are worried that your child is not receiving the right attention, or the medication that has been prescribed isn't effective enough, get a second opinion.