Asthma
Not All Medicines Created Equal
Steroid inhalers can be very useful for children with moderate or severe asthma. They can reduce inflammation in the lungs, prevent asthma flare-ups, and reduce the need for other asthma medicines. Tw…
Many Asthma Problems Do Not Need To Be Tolerated
Many people feel like ongoing wheezing with occasional flare-up physician visits, ER visits, and/or hospitalizations are to be expected for children with asthma. Viral respiratory infections often lea…
Farm Life and Immunity
Children who are raised on a farm have a significantly reduced risk of asthma, eczema, and hayfever, according to a study in the October 6, 2001 issue of The Lancet. Non-farm children who were exposed…
Children with Asthma Miss Out
We know what to do, but we are not doing it! Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs. Inflammation can cause ongoing damage. Albuterol helps children breath better for the moment, but do…
Secondhand Smoke Robs Vitamin C from Children
Children exposed to the most cigarette smoke have the lowest levels of vitamin C in their blood - regardless of how much fruit and vegetables they eat or the vitamins they take - according to a study …
Asthma, Diabetes Related?
Children with type 1 diabetes are less likely to get asthma, eczema, or hayfever. And the reverse is true, that those with asthma, eczema, or hayfever are less likely to get type 1 diabetes. (more&hel…
Asthma and Cars
The 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta provided a unique opportunity for CDC researchers to study the link between automobile traffic, air quality, and asthma. To minimize Atlanta traffic, the city …
Stuffy Noses Good?!
Those seemingly endless childhood stuffy, runny noses may be protecting your child. The chances of developing either asthma or eczema appear to be decreased in children who have had repeated head cold…
Asthma and Calcium: What You Need To Know
Dr. Greene's take on asthma and calcium: Inhaled steroids may be important for treating asthma, but they may also decrease bone mass in the children who use them, especially those who take more than 4…
Cat Allergies
At the year 2000 annual meeting of the American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology in Seattle an interesting cat-hair study was presented. People with dark-colored cats were 2 to 4 times more …
Do Inhaled Steroids for Asthma Harm More Than They Help?
While inhaled steroids can reduce inflammation, improve airway function, decrease the amount of asthma medication required, and prevent asthma flare-ups, we've known for some time that these strong me…
Kids with Asthma Become World-Class Athletes!
Yes, it's possible for kids with asthma to become some of the best athletes in the world. In fact, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, about 1 in 5 athletes had indications of this respiratory con…
Diet Influences Asthma Risk
Kids' changing diets may be, in part, responsible for the worldwide increase in asthma. A study published in the September 2000 issue of Thorax looked at the demographics and skin test results of chil…
Asthma Treatment
Nebulizer machines were once the mainstay of asthma treatment for those with serious asthma, but they are gradually being replaced in the management of asthma in adults, and then in older children. A …
World Asthma Day 2000 Brings Patients and International Health Experts Together Online
Asthma is worsening every year, and is rising more rapidly in preschool-aged children than any other age group. The Global Initiative for Asthma (a collaborative effort between the World Health Organi…
An Orange a Day!
A study in the April 2000 issue of Thorax found that eating citrus fruit or kiwi might reduce asthma symptoms in children. In this Italian study of over 18,000 children, eating fruit rich in vitamin C…
Does RSV Cause Asthma?
In the Northern Hemisphere it's the season for respiratory illnesses. Children with RSV bronchiolitis usually wheeze. Often these same children go on to develop asthma. My hunch has been that RSV does…
How Secondhand Smoke Affects Children
The Great American Smokeout is the American Cancer Society's call to stop smoking. We all know that smoking leads to serious health problems for adults, but many people just don't get that being in a …
Might Your Child Have Asthma?
Asthma among young children has exploded -- more than doubling in recent years. And an estimated half of the children with asthma haven't even been diagnosed! (more…)…
Watching Television Causes Asthma?!
We know that kids who have asthma are more likely to be overweight. But is it that kids with asthma exercise less, and so become overweight - or is it that obesity can trigger asthma? (more…)…