Asthma

Asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties.

It affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood. There's currently no cure, but there are simple treatments that can help keep the symptoms under control so it does not have a big impact on your life.

The most common symptoms of asthma are:  

• coughing
• wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing)
• breathlessness
• a tight chest.

Triggers

An asthma trigger is anything that can set off your asthma symptoms. Triggers can make your airways more inflamed and can cause asthma attacks. A few things happen when you come into contact with a trigger:

• Muscles around the airways tighten.
• The lining of the airways become swollen and inflamed.
• Sticky mucus can build up in the airways.
• This is what causes your asthma symptoms, such as coughing, breathlessness, chest tightness, or wheezing.

Triggers can change over time, and some will depend on the time of year, or the environment you’re in. Cold air can affect people in winter, and pollen can affect people in spring and summer.

Other common triggers include; smoke, exercise, colds and viruses, pollution, pet hair, dust mites.

If your child has Asthma, we would be grateful if you could complete the following form. Could  you also ensure that the correct, in-date medication is in school? Without a filled in copy of this document we cannot administer asthma medication to your child.