Asthma
Every Parent Whose Child Has Asthma Should Hear
A simple flu shot for every child with asthma could prevent 100,000 hospitalizations this year in the U.S. alone, according to an analysis by the American Lung Association released on September 18, 20…
Asthma, Behavior, and Clueless Parents
If your child has asthma, or might have asthma, you may want to learn all you can about it rather than relying on the bits and pieces you learn at office visits or in the ER. Besides giving your child…
A New Asthma Test
Dr. Greene's take on a new asthma test... Waiting and wondering is often tough on parents ? and can result in delayed treatment for children. But waiting and wondering is often exactly what happens wh…
Cats, Dogs, Allergies, and Asthma
Because allergies to pets are common, people long assumed that exposure to pets made allergies more likely. A number of studies have turned this assumption upside down. The August 2003 Pediatrics Syno…
Snoring, Asthma, and Nighttime Coughs
There is a link between snoring, asthma, and nighttime coughs in preschool children according to a study from Australia published in the August 2003 issue of Chest. We've known for awhile that nightti…
Food Allergies and Asthma
Most children with life-threatening asthma also have food allergies, according to a fascinating study published in the July 2003 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology ? the first study to show th…
Preventing Allergies
It's peak allergy season in many areas, with spring trees still pumping out millions of grains of pollen each day and the summer grasses already starting to contribute their share. Sneezing, running n…
The Two Faces of Swimming Pool Chlorine
Splash! Getting our kids physically active is a top priority for their short and long-term health, and swimming is a wonderful, fun way to do it. Public pools are typically treated with chlorine-based…
Throat Clearing – An Important Clue?
On the historic island of Crete, with its olive trees, orange groves, and vineyards; its old stone farmhouses, monasteries and villages; and its long-forgotten castles and chapels, sits a modern unive…
Asthma and SARS
There has never been a better time to be sure your asthma is under control. With a proper treatment plan, most asthma symptoms can be prevented or minimized. Uncontrolled, the linings of the airways i…
EPA Report on Children and the Environment (Lead, Tobacco, Asthma, and Mercury)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their second report on America's Children and the Environment on February 24, 2003. Where we have taken decisive action, kids' health is getting bett…
Breast Feeding and Asthma
We've known for awhile that when mothers have asthma (or related conditions such as eczema and hay fever) breast feeding for at least 4 to 6 months will lower the risk of her child developing asthma. …
A New Test For Asthma
Part of the problem in asthma is airway tightening (often treated with albuterol); part of the problem is inflammation in the lungs. This ongoing inflammation is often undertreated, resulting in more …
Asthma Star Power!
What do Glenn Close, Minnie Driver, Funkmaster Flex, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Goldblum, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Kelsey Grammer, Shaquille O'Neal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Sawyer, and General Schwarzkopf all hav…
Asthma and Reflux
If your child has asthma, you should consider whether your child might also have reflux. More evidence of the relationship between gastroesophageal reflux and asthma was published in the April 2002 is…
“Novocaine” for Asthma?
Several years ago, a man's severe wheezing stopped within 20 minutes of starting epidural anesthesia. The wheezing remained absent during the 155 minutes that the lidocaine dripped in, and came back w…
Yes, Asthma – But What Type?
If your child has asthma or recurrent wheezing, ask your doctor what category of asthma it is. Children with mild intermittent asthma can be managed with occasional albuterol use. Those with mild pers…
When Babies and Toddlers Wheeze
Wheezing in children before their second birthdays does not appear to make them any more likely than others to have asthma as adults - even among children who are at high risk for asthma and allergies…
Air Pollution, Asthma, and Lung Damage
We know that children who live in areas with excess air pollution have higher rates of asthma and other lung diseases. A study presented at the November 2001 annual meeting of the Radiological Society…
Hayfever Causes Asthma?
Many people underestimate the impact of nasal allergies, or allergic rhinitis. While only about 16% of those with allergies go on to develop asthma (as compared to 1% in the general population), 80% t…