An Unidentified Monster In The Bed Assessing Nocturnal Asthma In Children
Darrell Ginsberg
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How Do You Get Asthma
- Doctors know, however, that asthma can sometimes run in families.
- Asthma attacks can be set off by many different things, these are called triggers. Examples include cold air, vigorous exercise and stress.
- These triggers may also include ‘allergens’. These are present in the environment and contain chemicals that trigger allergic reactions.
- Allergens include, for example, pollen, animal danders, house dust, pollution, some foods, perfumes and cigarette smoke.
- Allergens cause the lining of the airways to become swollen and inflamed. It produces extra mucus and the muscles of the airways tighten. There is then less room for the air to pass in and out.
- Attacks may be more frequent or severe in people who have a chest infection.
Other Tips For Lessening Nighttime Allergies And Getting Better Sleep
Here are some of our top tips for getting your night allergies under control and your sleep back on track:
- If you think its indoor mold thats worsening your nighttime allergies, make sure you have adequate ventilation in every room of the house. This goes double for kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, where humidity levels can change more often.
- For indoor mold allergies, you also want to use dehumidifiers in the above rooms, as these keep too much moisture from forming.
- Make sure your home doesnt have any pipes or roof seals with leaks. If you spot these, get them repaired.
- For those with cockroach allergies, call an exterminator. They can tell you if there are any upstairs gaps where cockroaches can get into your bedroom. For instance, they may squeeze in through a window, a crack in the wall, or a small crevice.
- After youre done spending time with your pet, change clothes and wash the ones you wore while spending time with your animal. Dont bring clothes into your bedroom unless theyre clean.
- If you have a dust mite allergy, wash your sheets and other bedding at a high temperature, at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot water will help remove any lingering mites.
- Make sure you change and clean your bedding every week to keep dust mites away.
- Get plastic or fabric covers for your pillows, box spring, and mattresses so dust mites cant get into your bed.
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What Triggers An Asthma Attack
People with asthma have different triggers. Some people are triggered due to exposure of allergens like dust mites or grass. Other people can be triggered by irritants in the air like chemicals or strong odors. Carrillo notes that respiratory illnesses with mucus drainage like sinus infections or colds increase the likelihood of an asthma attack. Exercise and changes in the weather also trigger attacks as well. Some people may find that more than one thing increases their chances of having an attack, and any type of asthma can get worse at night.
Keep Your Sleeping Environment Allergen Free
You need your sleep, so, the room you sleep in needs to be cleaned often to remove pollen, dust mites, and other allergens. Vacuuming under the bed helps in this effort by removing allergens living underneath it. A home-remedy that helps keep your bedroom allergen free is to wipe down hard flooring, molding and the walls near your bed with white vinegar. Mold is an allergen that enjoys living on dark walls and floors. Dehumidifiers can help keep relative humidity at the recommended levels of 30-50% and air conditioning to maintain temperatures at 70 degrees F or below will retard dust mite and mold growth. Hardwood flooring is best.
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Surprising Signs Of Adult
This post is available in: Spanish
That persistent cough that keeps you up at night may stem from more than just a tickle in the back of your throat. It could be adult-onset asthma.
Many people experience a jolt of disbelief when they are diagnosed with asthma later in life, especially if they have never experienced symptoms before. Asthma? That condition that causes kids to wheeze?
It turns out adult-onset asthma is far more common than many people realize. Asthma is often considered a disease of children, so adults may be surprised when they are diagnosed with asthma, says pulmonologist Javier Pérez-Fernández, M.D., the critical care director at Baptist Hospital of Miami.
The number of people with asthma grows every year. Currently, more than 26 million Americans have asthma, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those cases, more than 20 million are among adults, with the greatest number of cases among ages 35 and 65.
Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the lung airways that can lead to coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath or wheezing. Among adults who develop asthma later in life, the symptoms may initially be more subtle than in children, which can cause patients to overlook or ignore the condition. But its important to treat symptoms as soon as possible so they dont become severe, said Dr. Pérez-Fernández, who also serves as director of pulmonology for West Kendall Baptist Hospital.
More Sleep Hygiene Tips
I realize that not everyone is going to want to try taping their mouth shut, at least at first blush. Thats why Ive enlisted my wife Emma, a reformed insomniac, to share whats helped her sleep better.
Since the best way to treat asthma is through lifestyle changes, improving your sleep hygiene in general might have a bigger impact on your symptoms that youd expect!
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Sleep Quality Of Nocturnal Asthma Patients
In stable diagnosed child asthmatics, knowledge of NA symptoms is required in order to properly medicate the patient and to accurately assess daytime psychological impairments which may result from poor sleep quality. Nocturnal symptoms such as wheezing, cough, sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness are reported significantly more in stable asthmatic children with non-diagnosed NA than in non-asthmatic controls . Accordingly, children with well-controlled, stable asthma have poorer quality of sleep and lower morning PEF values correlating to inferior objective and subjective sleep measurement as compared to non-asthmatic matched controls . In children with NA there is no difference in REM latency, REM sleep, sleep latency, total sleep time, and percentage in sleep stages as compared to controls . This indicates that the problems are not due to sleep stage quantity but rather to sleep quality since children with NA have more sleep awakenings than non-asthmatics . This not only places strain on the child, but also on the family as awakenings are linked to a decrease in parental mood and an increase in perceived parenting hassles .
Nocturnal Asthma: How Sleep Can Affect Asthma Symptoms
Posted by Lisa Spear | Dec 2, 2019 | Asthma, Sleep Medicine |
Studies show that some asthma patients suffer from worsening symptoms at night, a condition called nocturnal asthma, which can worsen both quality of sleep and quality of life.
Sleep may not be the first thing physicians ask their asthma patients about during a consultation but asthma symptoms can become active at night just as they do during the day. In fact, there are several variables that can cause symptoms to flare only after a person goes to sleep. Dust mites can hide inside bedding and may cause nighttime coughing and wheezing. Pet dander may drift through the air, unnoticed during the day when people may spend less time inside their homes, but may be inhaled at night and lead to irritated airways.
Not to mention, obstructive sleep apnea is far more common in people who experience asthma than in the general population. If a patients OSA is treated, but not the sudden spasms in their bronchioles from their asthma, then their quality of life may suffer as well as their overall health.
While the first symptoms of asthma and other lung diseases regularly show up during sleep, according to research published in the journal Internist, patients may not always connect their asthma symptoms to their fragmented shuteye.1 So it is often up to the clinicians to ask the right questions to determine whether or not a patient experiences nocturnal asthma and how to formulate the best individual treatment plan.
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Symptoms Causes And Treatments
There are several types of asthma, all with similar symptoms, such as difficulty breathing and chest tightness. The different asthma types vary in their triggers and underlying causes, and some may have additional symptoms. While they are similar, an accurate diagnosis is needed for optimal treatment.
Asthma subtypes include:
- Occupational asthma
- Glucocorticoid-resistant asthma
It’s possible to have more than one type of asthma, such as non-allergic and nocturnal. And most people who have asthma will experience exercise-induced bronchoconstriction at some point.
Asthma is also classified by severity, and the severity may change over time. Most asthma types can range in severity.
Your diagnosis may include the type and severity of your asthmafor example, you could be diagnosed with moderate-persistent occupational asthma or intermittent allergic asthma.
Some elements of asthma are the same across most or all types and severities:
- Classic symptoms:Wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, cough, asthma attacks
- Causes/risk factors: Genetics and environmental exposures
- Diagnosis:Pulmonary function tests and assessment of response to asthma medications
- Treatment: A rescue inhaler for the treatment of asthma attacks and possibly daily inhaled or oral medications to prevent symptoms
Some asthma types have unique underlying mechanisms that require specific additional treatments.
Clean Sheets + A Clean Body = A Good Night’s Sleep
If you are coughing at night and you are not sick, it may be time to do some detective work. Take a good look at your room and see if you need to vacuum, wash your sheets, or shower before bed if you have allergies.
Some people may also have problems if they have acid reflux, and that can trigger their asthma when they lay down at night to sleep.5
Talk to your doctor and see if they can help you find out what’s going on.
Let’s all get a good night’s sleep. I don’t know about you, but I am a much nicer person when I get a good night’s sleep!
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How Do You Monitor Asthma Symptoms
Monitoring your asthma symptoms is an essential piece of managing the disease. Your healthcare provider may have you use a peak flow meter. This device measures how fast you can blow air out of your lungs. It can help your provider make adjustments to your medication. It also tells you if your symptoms are getting worse.
How Do I Handle An Asthma Flare
If you feel like a flare-up is about to happen, stay calm. Let people around you know what’s going on. Then remember your asthma action plan. That’s the written plan that tells you what to do next.
Stay calm and focus on what your asthma action plan says. Your doctor probably told you to use your quick-relief medicine, so do that first.
If you can figure out what triggered your symptoms , remove the trigger or yourself from the area. Sometimes that’s all you need to get your asthma under control again.
If a flare-up is more severe, you might need to get help.
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Tips To Sleep Better With Severe Asthma At Night
Nocturnal asthma is associated with poor sleep quality. This condition of sleeplessness and its effects are worse for children. The average total sleep quality score of children affected by asthma is 51, which is above the clinical cut off of 41, but it indicates the pervasive sleep disturbances among this population.
Here are a few tips that can help you sleep better with asthma at night:
What Is An Asthma Attack
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, asthma attacks occur when an inflammation or obstruction of the bronchial tubes exists. Since these tubes allow air to enter and leave the lungs, asthma happens when air movement in and out of the lungs is restricted.
Asthma attacks are most commonly recognized by severe wheezing, consistent coughing and rapid breathing. However, people experiencing asthma attacks may also notice tightness in their chest and neck. If not enough oxygen reaches their lungs, then they may turn pale and their lips and fingernails could turn blue.
Asthma symptoms vary from person to person, but you can control them with a proper prevention routine. If your asthma is under control, then the likelihood of you experiencing an asthma attack decreases, Carrillo said.
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Do You Have An Asthma Cough
Asthma cough can be challenging.
It can be embarrassing or awkward to have an ongoing cough, especially amid increased anxiety over health during COVID-19 times.
When we released a blog last year on COVID-19 and asthma coughing, it had a huge response. People with asthma told us about the stigma and social isolation they were feeling about their coughing during the pandemic.
A cough is a way the body attempts to expel irritants in the lungs. But when the cough is due to inflammation of the lungs in asthma, and exposure to triggers, then the cough can continue.
Here is what you need to know about asthma cough.
In asthma, the airways are inflamed and overly responsive to triggers, such as cold and dry air, colds and flu, smoke, dust, and pollens. For some people, the coughing can start after exercise.
The amount and severity of cough can change depending on the weather and the season.
Taking your preventer medication as prescribed, and in line with your , may improve the cough symptoms by reducing the inflammation in the airways.
We encourage you if you are experiencing any asthma symptoms, to speak with your doctor as it may indicate that you are due for an asthma review.
My Child Coughs A Lot Could It Be Asthma
Cough is quite a common symptom along with wheezing in babies and young children when they have colds and viruses. If your child coughs a lot, it could be worth getting them checked out by a medical professional.
Asthma is more likely be the cause of the cough is dry if the cough or wheeze wont go away or keeps coming back, occurs more at night or early in the morning, they have symptoms after running around, laughing or being in the cold, wheeze without other cold symptoms, and there are other symptoms such as breathlessness,
Monitor when your child has a cough so you can tell your doctor and determine potential triggers.
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Self And Parental Questionnaires To Assess Nocturnal Asthma
The simplest and most common method of assessing NA is self-completed questionnaires. Self-identification of NA symptoms is very difficult since the patient must clearly understand the meaning of the questions posed towards them regarding wheezing, coughing and sleep disturbances and be conscious of their nighttime symptoms . Falconer et al. found that adults have poor agreement between subjective self-estimation and objective measurements of nocturnal cough, a common symptom of NA . Physicians are often unaware of their patients NA symptoms as patients generally have an indifferent view of NA symptoms and do not regularly report them to their doctor . In their study of 13,493 asthmatics, Raherison et al. found that only 48% had agreement between their actual NA situation and what was recorded by their general practitioner . Moreover, 42% of patients who declared they had no nocturnal symptoms had NA according to objective tests . This demonstrates a striking inability of the patient and the doctor to declare and identify NA symptoms. Identification of NA is vital as patients with NA symptoms have the lowest awareness of inadequate asthma control . Children have more difficulty in self-diagnosing NA than adults, as they are generally less aware of indicators . Physicians must be aware of this and specifically question asthma patients, especially children, regarding their NA status.
Nocturnal Asthma Medical Treatment
There is no cure for nocturnal asthma, although there are treatments to get it under control. Discuss your symptoms with your GP or asthma nurse and they will be able to recommend the best treatment plan for you. Medical treatment for nighttime asthma could include:
- Preventer inhaler. This delivers a dose of steroid medicine that you breathe in to damp down inflammation and swelling in the airways. Using a preventer inhaler regularly builds up protection so you are less sensitive to triggers. Good day-time control of your asthma will reduce flare-ups at night.
- Reliever inhaler. This delivers a dose of fast-acting medicine such as salbutamol that will open up the airways and help relieve the symptoms of nocturnal asthma. Keep it beside your bed so you can use it as soon as you have an attack at night.
- Combination inhalers. If your other inhalers are not helping, you might need a combination inhaler that mixes the medication and stops symptoms occurring while also providing relief if they do occur.
- Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists . This medicine is given in tablet-form and sometimes used in addition to inhalers to help with severe asthma symptoms and night-time attacks.
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