This spring, the climate has been highly variable—hot days followed by cold fronts—leading to a significant increase in weather-related illnesses, including pediatric asthma. According to Jinan Children’s Hospital statistics, over the past month, more than 60 asthmatic children have been seen daily. Similar trends are observed at other hospitals in the provincial capital. Asthma attacks in children often present as coughing accompanied by breathlessness and difficulty breathing, causing great anxiety among parents. Therefore, understanding this condition is crucial for prevention and management.
1. Asthma is common, with numerous triggers; eliminating these triggers is key to curing the disease.
Respiratory Route——
1. Dust mites: Mostly breed in living environments such as bedrooms, bedding, pillows, sofas, and clothing.
2. Pollen: Concentration peaks annually in April–May and after mid-September.
3. Fungi (molds): Easily grow in damp air or indoor spaces.
4. Pet dander: Skin flakes from dogs and cats act as epidermal allergens; inhalation can trigger early asthma reactions.
5. Insect excreta: Cockroaches are most common.
6. Occupational inhaled substances: Irritating gases or dust in cotton mills, leather factories, wool mills, rubber plants, and pharmaceutical factories.
Additionally, old feathers, silk, wool, gas, car exhaust, paint, and carpets may also serve as allergens.
Digestive Route——Foods such as milk, eggs, fish, shrimp, crab, peanuts, soybeans, chocolate, and shellfish.
Disease Route——Respiratory infections are the most common cause of asthma, especially in infants and young children. Mycoplasma respiratory infections can also trigger asthma.
Drug Route——Asthma attacks caused by drugs include specific allergies and non-specific allergies. Aspirin is the most common drug causing non-specific allergic reactions.
Air Route——Cold air stimulation can make airways hyper-responsive, thus triggering asthma.
Nutritional Route——Deficiency in trace elements can weaken immunity and contribute to asthma development, particularly iron and zinc deficiency.
If your child has asthma, carefully identify and remove triggers.
2. Besides hospital-based treatment, dietary therapy can be used as adjunctive care.
1. 500g tofu, 100g maltose, 1 cup fresh radish juice—mix and boil until ready, one daily dose divided into two servings (morning and evening). Effective for asthma due to lung heat.
2. 10g apricot kernels, 6g ephedra, 100g tofu—combine and cook in water for 1 hour, remove residue, eat tofu and drink soup. Take daily or every other day.
3. 5 fresh tender loofahs cut finely, decoct in water, remove residue, administer orally.
4. 5g walnut meat, 10g apricot kernels, 30g honey—mix and steam until cooked, add 20 drops of ginger juice, consume in one dose. Take every other day, continue for 5–7 doses. Alternatively, use 30g walnuts, 15g ginger, 250g pig lung—wash pig lung, add walnuts and ginger, stew until soft. Consume in three portions within 1–2 days.
These dietary therapies should be approved by a physician before use.
3. “Children will outgrow asthma naturally, so treatment isn’t necessary” is a misconception.
This is a widespread misunderstanding among parents. While some children do recover spontaneously, the rate of progression from childhood asthma to adult asthma remains high—up to 60%–70% without treatment. With active treatment, this drops to only 5%–10%, showing a stark contrast. Thus, children with asthma should receive timely and appropriate treatment to achieve remission before adolescence. With proper treatment, the cure or long-term remission rate can rise from 30% to 95%. Even those not cured by adulthood benefit significantly from early childhood treatment, which markedly reduces adult symptoms and provides lifelong advantages.<asthma>