Lesson 15 Asthma in children

Lesson 15: Asthma in children

airway
allergic to
asthma attack
blood vessel
bronchiole
catch your breath
constrict
dilate
dust
eczema
humidity
inhaler
mould (US mold)
mucus
mucus membrane
narrow
pollen
smooth muscle
trigger
wheezing

Vocab focus:
dilate means make wider ( noun - dilation)
constrict means make narrower (noun – constriction)
You will see these terms referring to muscles or blood vessels

Activity 1: Complete the sentences.

tight reaction slippery skin noisy starts

1 Eczema is a type of ___________ disease which is not uncommon in children.

2 A trigger is something which _____________ a disease happening.

3 An allergy is a _________________to something like a food, animal or pollen.

4 Mucus is a ________________ substance that lubricates the linings of the body.

5 The smooth muscle is the muscle around the airway that becomes ___________during an asthma attack.

6 Wheezing is a type of ______________breathing which happens during an asthma attack.

Grammar focus: Adjectives
Adjectives have many different endings in English. Do you know these adjectives?

Verb                Noun                           Adjective
tighten             tightness                      tight
smooth            smoothness                 smooth
slip                   slipperiness                 slippery
be humid         humidity                      humid

Activity 2: Label the parts of the bronchiole.

smooth muscle blood vessel airway mucus membrane

Activity 3: Listen to the audio and read the text.

Asthma

Asthma is often caused by contact with an asthma trigger like house dust, pollen or mould. The airways start to tighten and become narrower. Mucus may also build up in the airways so it is harder for the person to breathe. When this happens, patients start to wheeze or breathe noisily.

Children are more likely to develop asthma if they have a family history of asthma, eczema or allergies. Children whose parents smoke are more likely to develop asthma. Other factors like pollution and changes in temperature and humidity also affect children who have asthma.

1. House dust, pollen and mould are examples of _________ of asthma.
a   treatment
b   triggers
c   medicine

2. Asthma causes the airways to become _________________.
a   tight and narrow
b   smooth and narrow
c   built up

3. Wheezing is a type of noisy ______________ heard during an asthma attack.
a breaths
b breath
c breathing

4. Children who have skin diseases like ___________may also have asthma.
a   allergies
b   eczema
c   itching

5. If parents smoke around children, their child have _______chance of developing asthma.
a   more
b   less
c   some

Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICByhQ9APX8. Then, do the activities that follow.

Activity 4: Put the notes in order.
a) Use inhaler for 5 mins until breathing easily
b) Nurse explain asthma attack
c) Susy first asthma attack
d) Call for medical help if trouble breathing after 5 mins
e) Use inhaler immediately
f) Call for help

Grammar focus: Verbs
Verbs are followed by:
1. An infinitive verb ‘with to’ e.g. to eat, to drink
2. An infinitive ‘without to’ e.g. eat, drink
3. An ‘ing’ verb e.g. eating, drinking
4. A pronoun and a verb e.g. (call) someone to help

Activity 5: Complete the sentences from the video.
use breathe to explain to help make using

1. I’m going ________________what you should do next time.

2. First, call someone ____________ you.

3. You must __________ your inhaler straight away.

4. Keep ___________ your inhaler every five minutes until you can breathe easily.

5. The medicine in your inhaler should __________ your airways wider so it’s easier to breathe.

6. You must go to hospital if you can’t ________________ after five minutes.

Did you notice?
These verbs are followed by an infinitive ‘without to’
can / can’t                   You can breathe better. / He can’t breathe at all.
must / mustn’t            You must call for help. / You mustn’t touch that.
should / shouldn’t       You should stop smoking. / You shouldn’t smoke near your children.

Activity 6: Listen to the audio then put the following text in the correct order. Record it as your homework.

Asthma in Thai children
Around 60% of children have allergic asthma.
It is more common in boys than girls.
Asthma attacks usually occur in winter and in the rainy season.
Around 4% of Thai children develop asthma.
In addition, nearly 80% of asthmatics have a family history of allergies.
The most common allergy is an allergy to the house dust mite.
Asthma usually shows up in children who are younger than 2 years old.