Asthma

How important is it for us to find a new home for our pet? It is crucially important that you relocate your pet to a new home. If your child is allergic to the family...

Yes, your smoking will affect your child with newly diagnosed asthma. Smoking should be categorically banned from any household in which a child has asthma of any severity. Your smoking affects your child in many...

Our 10-year-old daughter who has asthma wants to go to sleep-away camp next summer. Should she attend a regular camp or a camp for children with asthma? The answer to what type of summer camp...

The best way to make sure that your son’s school is in a position to handle his asthma is to continue to teach him about his asthma and the medicines he takes and to establish...

No, absolutely not. Your child’s asthma should be brought under good control, and then she should be encouraged to participate fully in all aspects of school life, including fit-ness and sports. A diagnosis of asthma...

Asthma is never outgrown. Asthma is a lifelong diagnosis. Symptoms of asthma, however, can become absent for long periods of time, on the order of years in many cases, and thus lead to the impression...

Should I take my 4-year-old to a physician who specializes in asthma? Of the nearly 7 million children with asthma in the United States, the majority are diagnosed and initially treated by their primary care...

But that asthma cannot be diagnosed until my son is older than 2 or even 3 years old. Why is that? The observation that your young son is wheezing does not necessarily mean that he...

Milk is not a cause of increased mucus production, nor is it considered to be an asthma trigger. Consumption of milk has no effect on lung capacity, either deleterious or beneficial. It is a myth...

Maybe not, but asthma is very likely. Repeated bouts of wheezing in school-aged children—boys and girls—are almost always caused by asthma. The likelihood of asthma is even greater when a cough accompanies wheezing. A family...

Yes, but only as children. As young children, boys are almost twice as likely as girls are to develop asthma. Interestingly, the pattern is reversed when looking at asthma in older age groups. An article...

Absolutely not! Asthma is not an infectious condition. It cannot be transmitted from person to person, nor can it spread between people. Remember that there is an inherited component to the development of asthma and...

Yes, you will certainly be able to breastfeed if you wish to. Asthma medicine, especially that administered in inhaled form, is not a contraindication to nursing your infant. Breast-feeding has many advantages for both mother...

Studies have been carried out all over the world to help doctors decide which asthma medicines are safest in pregnancy. The single biggest risk to an asthmatic woman’s pregnancy is poor asthma control in the...

The fact that you have asthma does not necessarily mean that your child will develop asthma too. Your asthma diagnosis does, however, place your son or daughter at higher statistical risk of inheriting asthma as...

Yes, while you are pregnant, you should see your asthma specialist more frequently than before. In my practice, for example, I ask my pregnant patients with asthma to schedule a monthly visit, about as often...

How will pregnancy modify or affect my asthma? Pregnancy will not necessarily make your asthma worse or more symptomatic. Studies of asthma in pregnancy reveal that about one third of pregnant women with asthma will...

No! Asthma is definitely not a psychological disease; it is a physical condition that affects the lungs and its bronchial passages. The concept that asthma is somehow a disease of the mind or an emotional...

I am a meticulous housekeeper, so why does my house harbor dust mites? Should people with asthma encase their bedding? Is it a good idea to invest in an air purifier? Dust mite is a...

What is influenza? Why should I get a flu shot (influenza vaccination)? Will the flu shot make me ill? Influenza is a serious respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus (Table 49). Influenza viruses are...

I am traveling to the Caribbean on vacation and plan to go scuba diving, but my husband says it’s not safe since I have asthma. What guidance can you give us? In the past, asthma...

Always, always, always place your medicine in your carry-on bag when you travel by air. One obvious reason is that you may need to use your inhaled asthma medicine during the flight, or at the...

Is it better to use my inhaled asthma medication before or after I work out? What sports are especially beneficial for asthma? People with asthma can participate in many sports—as long as their asthma is...

Caffeine is a naturally occurring compound. The German analytical chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge (1795–1867) discovered caffeine in 1819, apparently at the urging of Gœthe, who had encouraged Runge to study and analyze coffee. We now...

A relationship between obesity and asthma continues to stimulate medical interest (Table 48). Physicians as well as the public have long postulated a link between obesity and asthma. The prevalence of both obesity and asthma...