Is it asthma? A guide for parents Your child may have asthma without you even knowing it - the symptoms of asthma can range from subtle to severe. We asked Martin Sachs, D.O., a specialist in pediatric allergy and immunology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., what clues may signal asthma and how the disease is diagnosed. Why does asthma sometimes go undiagnosed? The symptoms of asthma are coughing, wheezing, troubled breathing or any asthma info asthma info combination of these. Yet people typically identify asthma as just wheezing. The truth is that for a fair number of children who have asthma, a cough is the only symptom. The asthma often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as bronchitis. Another part of the problem is that an asthma attack is most commonly triggered by a cold. So when your child gets a cold with a fever - and he or she is coughing - asthma schools asthma info you might think that the cough is related to the infection. But it could be an asthmatic reaction triggered by the cold. What kind of cough indicates the possibility of asthma? Look for coughing that recurs and comes in series. An example of recurrence is if your child has a coughing episode, then is well for a while - until getting his or her next cold, when the cough recurs. Asthma-related coughs also typically infant asthma asthma info come in series - not as a single cough. They're spasmodic and worse at night. If your child's coughing is spasmodic, worse at night and lasts more than a couple of days with a cold, he or she may have asthma - especially if it occurs with each cold. What kind of wheeze suggests asthma? Wheezing is a little easier to identify. You'll hear a whistling-like sound when your child exhales. Your child also fatal asthma asthma info may feel tightness
