Knowledgebase: The One Minute Pediatrician

These are short topics that Dr. Dennis wrote for use on the radio. Each topic reads in less than one minute!

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3. Asthma - Top

Asthma is a diseas of the lungs in which there is reversible spasm of the muscles lining the smaller air tubes of the lungs, resulting in poor movement of air and increased mucous in the lungs.

One major symptom is a vibratory whistling sound from the lungs called wheezing. Another symptom is shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing. In milder cases there may only be a chronic tight dry cough especially at night or after exercise.

Asthma commonly runs in families especially with childhood history of recurrent bronchitis and is felt to affect to some extent from five to ten percent of the general population.

Asthma can be treated and controlled with a number of easy to use medicines.

If you feel yur child may have asthma, please ask your physician for more information. - Updated: January 18, 2002

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