Helping asthmatic children through bonding therapy

Abstract

Abstract: Disruptions in maternal-infant bonding are shown to be the mediating variable between maternal distress and the subsequent expression of childhood asthma. When bonding is repaired, it seems that children's asthmatic symptoms diminish or remit. This study evaluated 16 asthmatic children before and after their mothers were treated with bonding therapy. Fourteen improved on 11 measures, including reduction in STEP classification system and medication use. Thirteen children were able to stop all medications. The links between bonding disruptions, stress, and airway inflammation are discussed. Keywords iBonding Therapy, Childhood Asthma, Bonding Disruption, Asthma Treatment Introduction Asthma affects more children's lives than any other chronic illness (Lara et al., 2002). In 2008, just over 10 million children within the U. S were reported as ever having had a diagnosis of asthma (Akinbami, Moorman, Garbe, & Sondik, 2009). It is the third-ranking cause of hospital admissions in children under 15 (DeFrances, Cullen, & Kozak, 2007). The financial cost in America in 2007 was $56 billion in health costs, lost school and work days, and early deaths (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Asthma is responsible for 14 million missed school days annually (Martin, 2004) - more than any other chronic illness. Since childhood asthma has reached epidemic proportions and has major public health and financial impacts, researchers have been attempting to identify risk factors for the development of this disease. For several years a significant focus of attention has revolved around the connection between maternal distress and the subsequent development of asthma children. Mrazek, Klinnert, Mrazek, and Macey (1991), at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, studied 150 children whose mothers were asthmatic. They found a link between early problems in coping/parenting and the subsequent expression of asthma. Klinnert et al. (2001), surprised by this finding, noted that this link between parental stress in care-giving and the subsequent development of asthma was the first documented report of such a connection. Maternal stress is known to be caused by many factors: Cesarean section deliveries, maternal health issues, psychological problems, maternal despondency, to list a few. Cesarean section deliveries and emergency cesarean sections have been linked to childhood asthma. A Finnish study of 60,000 births found that mothers who delivered by cesarean sections were 50% more likely to have a child who later developed asthma (Kero et al., 2002). Emergency cesarean section deliveries (even more stressful) predictably raised the asthma rate up to 60%. This finding was replicated by Roduit et al. (2009) who studied 2,917 children. Annesi-Maesano, Moreau, and Strachan (2001), using a British cohort of 2,583 mothers, investigated whether in utero and perinatal influences contribute to the development and severity of asthma in childhood. Childhood asthma was more frequently reported by mothers when there had been health complications during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, or when the child was ill during the first week of life. She concluded that there is evidence that in utero and perinatal factors may increase the risk of developing asthma. Similarly, a Norwegian study of over 1.5 million mothers and 5,938 asthmatic children found that many types of pregnancy complications represented a risk factor for the development of asthma in the offspring (Nafstad, Samuelsen, Irgens, & Bjerkedal, 2003). Kozyrskyj et al. (2008) studied healthcare records of 13,907 children and their mothers from Manitoba databases. Healthcare or prescription medication for depression or anxiety was used to define maternal distress, and asthma status was determined from the children's asthma prescription records. They found that risk for childhood asthma was increased among children who were exposed to continued maternal distress from birth until age 7 years. …