Asthma Center for Kids
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Do Allergies Cause Asthma?
Kids who have allergies also might have a breathing problem called asthma. Find out more in this article for kids.
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Asthma Action Plan
When things are confusing, a plan really helps. Check out this asthma action plan, which you can print out and use to manage breathing trouble.
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Getting a Spirometry Test (Video)
A spirometry test is as easy as blowing out birthday candles. Watch how the test is done in this video for kids.
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What is Asthma? (Video)
Take a look inside a person's lungs when asthma is making it hard to breathe.
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What Are Airways?
The airways in your lungs are like tubes or straws.
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What Are Allergy Shots (Immunotherapy)?
If you sneeze a lot because you're allergic to something, could these things help?
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What Are Bronchial Tubes?
These tubes, or airways, let air in and out of your lungs, so you can breathe.
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What Are Corticosteroids?
Controller medicine keeps the airways in the lungs open and clear so kids with asthma can breathe.
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What Are Dust Mites?
Dust mites are teeny, tiny bugs that live in household dust.
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What Are Retractions?
Retractions are a sign someone is working hard to breathe.
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What Are Sulfites?
Sulfites are food preservatives that can cause breathing problems in some people with asthma.
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What Are Triggers?
With asthma, a trigger is anything that brings on asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing.
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What Is a Lung Function Test?
How well do your lungs function? In other words, how well are you breathing?
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What Is Bronchoconstriction?
Bronchoconstriction affects the airways in a person's lungs.
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What Is Exercise-Induced Asthma?
Some people have asthma symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or trouble breathing) only when they're doing sports or being active.
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What Is Histamine?
Histamine is a substance in the body that's released during an allergic reaction.
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What's a Bronchodilator?
A person with asthma may need to take a medicine called a bronchodilator to open the airways, or bronchial tubes.
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What's a Cough?
A cough is a reflex that helps your body clear your throat and lungs.
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What's a Nebulizer?
A nebulizer may sound like a space gun, but you don't have to be on a spaceship to use it.
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What's a Peak Flow Meter?
Lots of kids who have asthma use a special tool called a peak flow meter to measure how quickly they can push air out of their lungs.
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What's a Spacer?
A spacer makes it easier to use an inhaler.
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What's a Spirometer?
A spirometer is an instrument that measures how well your lungs are working.
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What's Allergy-Triggered Asthma?
Most kids who have asthma also have some kind of allergy, too.
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What's an Airway Obstruction?
When something keeps the air from moving in and out of the airways in your lungs, it's called an airway obstruction.
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What's an Allergen?
An allergen is a medical word for anything that causes an allergic reaction.
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What's an Asthma Action Plan?
Lots of stuff goes more smoothly when you have a plan - and that includes dealing with asthma.
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What's an Asthma Flare-Up?
When a person has a lot of trouble with wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath, it's called an asthma flare-up, or attack.
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What's an Inhaler?
An inhaler is a plastic tube that holds a container of medicine that comes out in a spray and is breathed into the lungs.
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What's Animal Dander?
All warm-blooded animals shed tiny flakes from their skin. This is called dander.
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What's Asthma?
Someone with asthma can have trouble breathing because of problems with the airways, the tubes that carry air into the lungs.
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What's Pollen?
Pollen is a fine powder produced by certain plants.
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What's Wheezing?
Wheezing is the whistling sound air makes when your breathing tubes are narrowed.