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Asthma Center Content List

  • Allergy Shots

    Many kids battle allergies year-round, and some can't control their symptoms with medications. For them, allergy shots (or allergen immunotherapy) can help.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Cockroaches

    Find out how to limit exposure to cockroaches if they make your child's asthma or allergies worse.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Dust Mites

    If dust mites make your child's asthma or allergies worse, here's how to limit exposure to them.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Irritants

    If strong scents, smoke, and smog make your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit contact with these irritants.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Pollen

    If pollen makes your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit exposure it.

  • Seasonal Allergies (Hay Fever)

    At various times of the year, pollen and mold spores trigger the cold-like symptoms associated with seasonal allergies. Most kids find relief through reduced exposure to allergens or with medicines.

  • How to Prevent Asthma Flare-Ups (Video)

    An asthma flare-up (or asthma attack) is when asthma symptoms get worse, making kids wheeze, cough, or be short of breath. An asthma flare-up can happen even when asthma is controlled. Asthma flare-ups can be handled, but it's even better if you can prevent them from happening.

  • Definition: Airway Obstruction

    When we breathe, air passes through our airways (the tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs) to get to our lungs.

  • Definition: Allergen

    An allergen is a substance that's capable of producing an allergic reaction.

  • Definition: Allergy-Triggered Asthma

    Allergy-triggered asthma is a type of asthma commonly seen in children.

  • Definition: Animal Dander

    All warm-blooded animals shed tiny flakes from their skin called dander (it's like dandruff in humans, but it's much harder to see).

  • Definition: Asthma

    Asthma is a chronic lung disorder that causes airways (the tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs) to become inflamed, which means that they swell and produce lots of thick mucus.

  • Definition: Asthma Action Plan

    An asthma action plan is a set of individualized written instructions, designed with a doctor, that detail how a person with asthma should manage his or her asthma at home.

  • Definition: Asthma Flare-Up

    When symptoms of asthma, such as wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath, become more severe, more frequent, or both, it's known as an asthma flare-up.

  • Definition: Bronchial Tubes

    When a person breathes, air taken in through the nose or mouth then goes into the trachea (windpipe). From there, it passes through the bronchial tubes, into the lungs, and finally back out again. People with asthma have bronchial tubes that are inflamed.

  • Definition: Bronchoconstriction

    Along with inflammation of the airways, bronchoconstriction leads to symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

  • Definition: Bronchodilator

    Bronchodilators are medications commonly used by people with asthma.

  • Definition: Corticosteroids

    Corticosteroids are medications commonly used by people with asthma.

  • Definition: Dust Mites

    Dust mites are microscopic bugs that live in household dust.

  • Definition: Exercise-Induced Asthma

    Some people have exercise-induced asthma, which means that their asthma symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath) are triggered by exercise or physical activity.

  • Definition: Histamine

    Histamine - a chemical found in some of the body's cells - causes many of the symptoms of allergies, such as a runny nose or sneezing.

  • Definition: Immunoglobulin (IgE)

    Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a type of protein in the body called an antibody.

  • Definition: Immunotherapy

    Immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots, is a form of treatment used for certain allergies.

  • Definition: Inhaler

    Inhalers are portable handheld devices that deliver medication - in a form that the person breathes in - directly to the lungs, unlike a pill or liquid that's swallowed.

  • Definition: Long-Term Control Medicines

    Many people with asthma need to take medicine every day to control their asthma and prevent symptoms.

  • Definition: Lung Function Tests

    Lung (or pulmonary) function tests are a variety of tests that measure how well a person breathes.

  • Definition: Nebulizer

    A nebulizer is an electrically powered machine that turns liquid medication into a mist so that it can be breathed directly into the lungs through a face mask or mouthpiece.

  • Definition: Pollen

    Pollen is a fine powder produced by certain plants when they reproduce.

  • Definition: Quick-Relief Medicines

    Quick-relief medicines are used by people with asthma to relieve asthma symptoms or to treat an asthma flare-up.

  • Definition: Retractions

    Retractions are a sign that someone is working hard to breathe.

  • Definition: Spacer

    People with asthma often use inhalers (also called puffers) to take their medications. A spacer (also sometimes called a holding chamber) is a device that makes using an inhaler easier and more effective.

  • Definition: Spirometer

    A spirometer is an instrument that measures how well your child's lungs are working.

  • Definition: Sulfites

    Sulfites are a kind of food preservative that can cause breathing difficulties in some people with asthma.

  • Definition: Triggers

    During normal breathing, the airways to the lungs are fully open, allowing air to easily move in and out. In a person with asthma, the airways are inflamed and overly sensitive to certain things that wouldn't usually bother others. These are called triggers.

  • Definition: Wheezing

    A wheeze is a high-pitched whistling sound made when air flows through narrowed airways in the lungs, usually when people breathe out.

  • What's a Peak Flow Meter?

    A peak flow meter is a portable handheld device used to measure how well a person can blow air out of the lungs.

  • What's an Asthma Action Plan?

    Find out how this written plan can help you care for your child with asthma.

  • Asthma Action Plan

    Use this printable sheet to help reduce or prevent flare-ups and emergency department visits through day-to-day management of your child's asthma.

  • Asthma Diary

    Use this weekly diary to record your child's asthma symptoms, peak flows, the amount of medicine taken.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Cockroaches

    Find out how to limit exposure to cockroaches if they make your child's asthma or allergies worse.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Dust Mites

    If dust mites make your child's asthma or allergies worse, here's how to limit exposure to them.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Irritants

    If strong scents, smoke, and smog make your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit contact with these irritants.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Mold

    If mold makes your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit exposure to it.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Pollen

    If pollen makes your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit exposure it.

  • School and Asthma

    Asthma flare-ups are the main reason kids with asthma miss school. But well-managed asthma is far less likely to result in a sick day.

  • Air Pollution and Asthma

    Ground-level ozone and other air pollutants can trigger asthma flare-ups. But there are steps you can take to minimize your child's exposure.

  • Can the Weather Affect My Child's Asthma?

    Sometimes, the weather can affect a child's asthma symptoms. Here are some tips for dealing with it.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Cockroaches

    Find out how to limit exposure to cockroaches if they make your child's asthma or allergies worse.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Dust Mites

    If dust mites make your child's asthma or allergies worse, here's how to limit exposure to them.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Irritants

    If strong scents, smoke, and smog make your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit contact with these irritants.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Mold

    If mold makes your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit exposure to it.

  • Dealing With Triggers: Pollen

    If pollen makes your child's asthma or allergies worse, learn how to limit exposure it.

  • Exercise-Induced Asthma

    Many kids with asthma have symptoms when they exercise. But with careful management, they usually can do anything their peers can do.

  • How to Prevent Asthma Flare-Ups (Video)

    An asthma flare-up (or asthma attack) is when asthma symptoms get worse, making kids wheeze, cough, or be short of breath. An asthma flare-up can happen even when asthma is controlled. Asthma flare-ups can be handled, but it's even better if you can prevent them from happening.

  • Secondhand Smoke

    Breathing in someone else's secondhand smoke is hazardous to our health. Find out what you can do about it.

  • Smoking and Asthma

    Being a smoker is an obvious risk for kids and teens with asthma, but just being around people who smoke - and breathing in secondhand smoke - can cause problems, too.

  • Asthma Action Plan

    Use this printable sheet to help reduce or prevent flare-ups and emergency department visits through day-to-day management of your child's asthma.

  • Asthma Diary

    Use this weekly diary to record your child's asthma symptoms, peak flows, the amount of medicine taken.

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