In honor of National Allergy and Asthma Month (observed in May in the United States of America), today’s episode is about asthma. Asthma is the most common childhood chronic health condition, affecting over 5 million kids in the USA.
The book I reviewed today is called ‘Iggy and the Inhalers’. This is a comic style book, written by Dr Alex Thomas who is a pediatric allergist and immunologist. It is written specifically to educate kids with asthma about their disease in a fun and engaging way (think superhero inhalers and villainous asthma triggers!). This would be a good pick for children ages 7-10.
So what exactly is asthma?
Asthma is a disease that causes the small airways of the lungs to be inflamed.
There is always a bit of inflammation in the lungs of a person with asthma. But, after being exposed to a trigger, the inflammation gets worse. This causes the airway to swell, it causes the muscles around the airways to spasm, and causes mucus to build up in the airway. These things together make the airway narrow, so that it is hard for air to pass in and out of the lungs. When this happens, a child with asthma will have trouble breathing, chest tightness and wheezing. This is called an asthma attack.
Triggers
A big part of keeping asthma attacks away is knowing and avoiding triggers. Everyone has different triggers, but here are some common ones:
- Allergens (pollen, dust, mold, pet dander, roaches)
- Cigarette smoke, which is usually secondhand for children. (So if you’re a caregiver, get help to quit smoking!)
- Colds (viral infections)
- Exercise
- Even cold air can be a trigger!
How is asthma managed?
Back to our book! Iggy is a superhero in the shape of an inhaler. He first appears when the main character David is having an asthma attack. Not on his watch! He and his team of superhero inhalers step in to save the day. First there is Bronco the bronchodilator – who works quickly to relax the muscle bands around the airway and help David start breathing again. Then there’s Coltron the controller – who works slow and steady over time to reduce the swelling in the small airway.
These are the two main types of medication that are used for asthma:
- A rescue inhaler (or bronchodilator) – used when there are active symptoms of asthma such as trouble breathing
- A controller inhaler – used every day to decrease inflammation in the airways. This makes it less likely that an asthma attack will happen
When an asthma attack is severe, other medicines like steroids may be needed to help open up the airways.
Iggy and his inhalers are great teachers! They do an awesome job of showing children the right way to use an inhaler and a spacer. Iggy and his crew also uncover all the scary triggers (aka MONSTERS!!) that are lurking in David’s house. Will Iggy and the Inhalers be able to kick Team Trigger out, so that David can avoid asthma attacks? Go read and see!
Can kids with asthma still play sports?
YES! Children with asthma do not need to be kept away from sports or exercise, when asthma is well controlled with medications. In fact, staying active helps to make their lungs stronger! For asthma that is triggered by exercise, it helps to use a rescue inhaler 15 minutes before exercise. This helps to prevent an attack.
Overall, ‘Iggy and the Inhalers’ answers so many great questions about asthma! The pictures help kids to really understand their condition and why they need to do certain things to manage their disease. There’s fun activities to help reinforce learning, AND cool superhero stickers to label a child’s inhalers. Check it out!
Interested in other children’s books touching on health conditions? Check out our bookshelf!
