Asthma

Nadra is from Iran. She is a mother of three. She studies English at AMES in Footscray. Last month she did not come to class. Her son was very sick. He is 6 years old. He started to cough a lot. Nadra took her son to the doctor to check what was wrong. The doctor checked the boy’s chest and gave him some medicine. He told Nadra to come again after three days. The boy took the medicine but he was still sick. The doctor examined the boy again and told Nadra some bad news. Her son had asthma.

Many young children in Australia have asthma. They find it difficult to breathe. They start to cough if they run. In Australia there are more than 2 million people with asthma. In America there are 17 million people who have asthma. Many people who have asthma start to wheeze, cough a lot and have shortness of breath. Some children have asthma for some time. After that they grow out of it. They do not have it any more. They become healthy. They can run and play sports.

The doctor gave Nadra a small book to read. The book is about asthma. He also gave her an action plan. He told her what to do if her son became sick. Asthma is very serious. Some people die from asthma if they do not go to hospital quickly. 318 people died from asthma in 2005.

The doctor gave the boy a puffer to take every day. He also gave him another puffer to take when he cannot breathe. Nadra came to school yesterday. Her son is much better. He does not cough now, but he needs to take his puffer every day. Nadra is not happy. She needs to read about asthma. She needs to help her son take his puffer on time every day.