Asthma Center for Teens
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Asthma Action Plan
Use this printable sheet to help manage your asthma.
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Asthma Action Plan
Use this printable sheet to help manage your asthma.
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Asthma Diary
Use this weekly diary to keep a record of your asthma symptoms, peak flows, and the amount of medicine taken.
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Asthma-Safe Homes
Here's steps to remove or minimize triggers at home that cause asthma flare-ups.
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How Can I Deal With My Asthma?
Asthma is more common these days than it used to be. The good news is it's also a lot easier to manage and control.
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How Do Asthma Medicines Work?
Two different types of medicines are used to treat asthma. Read about how they work, and why people might need to take them.
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If I Have Asthma, Can I Keep My Pet?
If you have asthma, you're more likely to be allergic to a pet than someone who doesn't have asthma. Find out what you can do.
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Refilling a Prescription
Tips and advice for teens on refilling a prescription.
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What's the Difference Between a Nebulizer and an Inhaler?
Inhalers and nebulizers are tools that help you get asthma medicine into the lungs. Find out how to use them.
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Lungs and Respiratory System
Each day you breathe about 20,000 times. Find out more about the lungs and breathing process.
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Allergy Testing
Doctors use several different types of allergy tests, depending on what a person may be allergic to. Find out what to expect from allergy tests.
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Definition: 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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Definition: Airways
The airways in your lungs are like tubes or straws.
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Definition: Allergen
An allergen is a medical word for anything that causes an allergic reaction.
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Definition: Allergy-Triggered Asthma
Many people who have asthma have some kind of allergy, too.
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Definition: Animal Dander
All warm-blooded animals shed tiny flakes from their skin called dander.
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Definition: Asthma
Asthma is a problem with the lungs that causes the airways to swell and produce lots of thick mucus.
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Definition: Asthma Action Plan
An asthma action plan is a set of written instructions that can help a person manage breathing problems.
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Definition: 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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Definition: Bronchial Tubes
When a person breathes, air comes in through the nose or mouth and then goes into the trachea (windpipe). From there, it passes through the bronchial tubes, which are in the lungs.
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Definition: Bronchoconstriction
A narrowing of the airways is known as bronchoconstriction.
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Definition: Bronchodilator
Bronchodilators are medications commonly used by people with asthma.
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Definition: Corticosteroids
Not all steroids are the bad, muscle-building kind that some athletes take illegally.
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Definition: Cough
A cough is a reflex that helps your body clear your throat and lungs.
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Definition: Dust Mites
Dust mites are microscopic bugs that live in household dust.
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Definition: Exercise-Induced Asthma
Some people have asthma symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or trouble breathing) only when they're playing sports or being active.
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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.
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Definition: Immunoglobulin (IgE)
Many people have allergy-induced asthma, which means that their asthma symptoms are triggered by allergic reactions.
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Definition: Immunotherapy
This is a way of treating allergies with a series of regular allergy shots.
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Definition: Inhaler
An inhaler is a device that gets medicine directly into a person's lungs.
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Definition: Long-Term Control Medicine
Many people with asthma need to take medication every day to control their asthma.
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Definition: Lung Function Tests
The term "lung function" refers to how well a person is breathing.
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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.
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Definition: Peak Flow Meter
A peak flow meter can tell you how well your lungs are working.
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Definition: Pollen
During the spring, summer, and fall, plants release pollen (a fine powder that is carried by the wind from plant to plant in order to fertilize them).
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Definition: Quick-Relief Medicine
Quick-relief medicines are asthma medicines that work fast to stop or prevent asthma symptoms.
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Definition: Retractions
A retraction is a medical term for when the area between the ribs and in the neck sinks in when a person with asthma attempts to inhale.
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Definition: Spacer
A spacer makes it easier to use an inhaler.
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Definition: Spirometer
A spirometer is an instrument that doctors use to measure how well a person's lungs are working. To use one, a person breathes into a mouthpiece.
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Definition: Sulfites
Sulfites are food preservatives that can cause breathing difficulties in some people with asthma.
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Definition: Triggers
An asthma trigger is anything that brings on coughing, wheezing, trouble breathing, and other symptoms in a person with asthma.
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Definition: Wheeze
A wheeze is a high-pitched whistling sound made when air flows through narrowed airways in the lungs, usually when people breathe out.