Asthma and allergies in childhood are increasingly common conditions in Singapore and around the world. They can be a significant cause of distress for children and their parents/family. With proper management and good control, every child should be able to lead a normal, active and healthy life despite asthma and allergies.

Goals In Asthma and Allergy Management

The goals of asthma management are to:

1. Control the symptoms
2. Prevent disease exacerbations (flare-ups)
3. Maintain as normal a lifestyle and activity level as possible
4. Use medications with minimal or no adverse effects
5. Meet patients' and families' expectations

How Do We Achieve These Management Goals?

Every child must be treated as an individual, and the family and community issues must be taken into consideration while managing asthma and alllergies. These management goals can be achieved through:

1. Evaluation and accurate diagnosis
2. Education of patient and family
3. Allergen and trigger avoidance
4. Appropriate pharmacological treatment and delivery of medication
5. Adequate monitoring and supervision
6. Treatment and management of concomitant upper allergies

These should be coordinated through a comprehensive programme whereby the patient, family and medical team have clear goals and proper understanding together with open communication links. It is also very important to improve the general understanding of these conditions through education of the community and public.

A close partnership between the medical profession, schools, institutions, organisations, the pharmaceutical industry and the community is also important in order not to duplicate efforts and to have a strong and concerted educational message.

Education

Understanding asthma and allergies and their triggers is the key to therapeutic success. Knowing what to do in case of an emergency and how to handle a asthma attack can help avoid a hospital visit. Exercise may also trigger asthmatic symptoms. However, exercise improves fitness as well as cardiovascular and respiratory functions. With appropriate care, asthma control can be optimised to enable every child to lead a normal active lifestyle.