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100 Questions & Answers About Your Child's Asthma (100 Questions & Answers about) PDF

295 Pages·2007·2.46 MB·English
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100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma Claudia S. Plottel, MD, FACP, FCCP New York University School of Medicine B. Robert Feldman, MD, FAAAI, FACAAI, FAAP Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons/ Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian World Headquarters Jones and Bartlett Publishers Jones and Bartlett Publishers Jones and Bartlett Publishers Canada International 40 Tall Pine Drive 6339 Ormindale Way Barb House, Barb Mews Sudbury, MA 01776 Mississauga, Ontario L5V 1J2 London W6 7PA 978-443-5000 CANADA UK [email protected] www.jbpub.com Jones and Bartlett’s books and products are available through most bookstores and online booksellers. To contact Jones and Bartlett Publishers directly, call 800-832-0034, fax 978-443-8000, or visit our website, www.jbpub.com. Substantial discounts on bulk quantities of Jones and Bartlett’s publications are available to corporations, professional associations, and other qualified organizations. For details and specific discount information, contact the special sales department at Jones and Bartlett via the above contact information or send an email to [email protected]. Copyright © 2008 by Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. The authors, editor, and publisher have made every effort to provide accurate information. However, they are not responsible for errors, omissions, or for any outcomes related to the use of the contents of this book and take no responsibility for the use of the products and procedures described. Treatments and side effects described in this book may not be applicable to all people; likewise, some people may require a dose or experience a side effect that is not described herein. Drugs and medical devices are discussed that may have limited availability controlled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use only in a research study or clinical trial. Research, clinical practice, and government regulations often change the accepted standard in this field. When consideration is being given to use of any drug in the clinical setting, the health care provider or reader is responsible for determining FDA status of the drug, reading the package insert, and reviewing prescribing information for the most up-to-date recommendations on dose, precautions, and contraindications, and determining the appropriate usage for the product. This is especially important in the case of drugs that are new or seldom used. Production Credits Chief Executive Officer: Clayton Jones Special Projects Editor: Elizabeth Platt Chief Operating Officer: Don W. Jones, Jr. Associate Editor: Kathy Richardson President, Higher Education and Professional Marketing Manager: Andrea DeFronzo Publishing: Robert W. Holland, Jr. Manufacturing and Inventory Coordinator: V.P., Design and Production: Anne Spencer Amy Bacus V.P., Manufacturing and Inventory Control: Cover Design: Kate Ternullo Therese Connell Cover Image: © Ron Chapple 2002 V.P., Sales and Marketing: William J. Kane © Ilene MacDonald/Alamy Images Executive Publisher: Christopher Davis © Liquid Library Composition: Appingo Printing and Binding: Malloy, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Plottel, Claudia S. 100 questions & answers about your child’s asthma / Claudia S. Plottel, B. Robert Feldman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7637-3917-1 1. Asthma in children—Miscellanea. I. Feldman, Bernard R. II. Title. III. Title: One hundred questions and answers about your child’s asthma. RJ436.A8P62 2007 618.92'238—dc22 2007013968 6048 2587 Printed in the United States of America 11 10 09 08 07 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface v Acknowledgments vii Dedication ix Part 1: General Information 1 Questions 1–23 answer basic questions about asthma, including: • What is asthma? • What causes asthma? • Why is asthma so common? • Can asthma be cured? Part 2: History, Symptoms, and Physical Examination 51 Questions 24–32 describe the physical signs that might indicate a child has asthma, such as: • Do all children with asthma have similar symptoms? • What exactly is a wheeze? • What does my doctor mean by an exacerbation of asthma? Why are the terms attacks and exacerbations both used? Part 3: Diagnostic Evaluation and Workup 69 Questions 33–40 discuss how asthma is identified in children, including: • How can I find out if my child has allergies? • How does a doctor diagnose asthma? • How will I know if my son’s asthma attack is severe enough to require a trip to the emergency room? Are there specific signs and symptoms that can help me make that decision? Part 4: Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis 87 Questions 41–47 outline other conditions that may be related to or mistaken for asthma, such as: • Are there other conditions that can be confused with asthma because of a similar pattern of symptoms? 1 0 0 Q & A A b o u t y o u r C h i l d ’ s A s t h m A • What specific symptoms should make me suspect that my child has asthma? • What is the difference between allergy and asthma? Part 5: Treatment 103 Questions 48–70 discuss treatment options, including: • What medications are helpful for treating asthma? • Why are so many asthma medicines in inhaler form? • What are corticosteroids (steroids) and how do they work? • How do the different medicines my son uses actually work? • Is it necessary for him to carry his “puffer” all the time? • Do children with asthma have to take their medicine continually? • Why is environmental control important in managing my child’s asthma? Part 6: Recommendations 161 Questions 71–88 offer recommendations for handling your child’s asthma, including: • What is a written asthma action plan? Should I expect my daughter’s doctor to give her one? • What is a nebulizer? • How do I determine what asthma medicines are best for my child? • Is it necessary for my child to get the flu vaccine every year? • Is it necessary for my daughter to see a specialist, or can her primary care doctor diagnose and treat her asthma? Part 7: Specialized Situations 207 Questions 89–100 describe specific circumstances that may affect children with asthma, such as: • Is there anything I can do during pregnancy to prevent my unborn child from developing asthma? • How can I make sure that my son’s school can cope with his allergies and/or asthma? • Will my child’s weight affect his asthma? • What sports should be encouraged for children with asthma? Appendix 231 The Appendix contains a selective listing of resources, publications, and references for further information on asthma. Glossary 247 Index 267 iv PrefaCe The question that immediately presents itself as you thumb through 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma is: “Why write a book for parents about asthma in children?” One answer would revolve around numbers. We are, after all, in the midst of an asthma epidemic. The latest statistics indicate that asthma, the most common chronic disease of child- hood, affects an estimated 6.5 million children in the United States. You thus probably know at least one child—perhaps a relative, a friend of your child’s, or a neighborhood youngster—who has asthma. If you are the parent, family member, or caregiver of a child with asthma, you likely want to know more about pediatric asthma, understand the condition better, learn about contemporary developments, and obtain the best care for your child. 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma reveals how far medical science has advanced in understanding asthma and how much progress we have achieved in addressing and controlling the disease in young people. New, more effective medicines have made their way into clinical practice to take their place alongside older, proven remedies. Modern asthma treatment includes more than the prescription of medications, however: there is now a greater emphasis than ever before on addressing the role that environ- mental factors play in asthma. Recognizing the importance of a therapeutic partnership between the child with asthma, the parents, and the treating physician is another key component of effective care for any youngster with asthma. Individualized asthma self-management programs provide a useful framework for parents and children to learn about asthma in general and to decide how asthma is best treated in their child in particular. We are board-certified physicians who specialize in the care of infants, children, adolescents, and adults who have asthma; together, our combined practice experience exceeds sixty years. We recognize on a daily basis our ob- ligation as physicians to provide clear and exact disease-specific information to our patients and to their families. We chose to step out of the office and 1 0 0 Q & A A b o u t y o u r C h i l d ’ s A s t h m A the clinic to collaboratively write answers to the questions most frequently asked of us in caring for persons diagnosed with asthma. The result now lies in your hands. The one hundred questions that we selected as the backbone of 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma are real questions, ones we find ourselves answering again and again in our professional lives. The format of the book mirrors the sequence of a medical consultation, but the question-and-answer format allows you to flip through the book and read ahead to those topics that most interest you, in any order that you prefer. We have included a listing of asthma resources for further reading after Question 100 and have composed a glossary of important vocabulary terms to facilitate your reading and understanding. 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma provides scientific, ac- curate, and timely information that reflects both the medical profession’s current understanding of asthma and our own experience as practicing asthma specialists. It also incorporates the experiences of people who have seen pediatric asthma up close. Frank Lomascolo, now a college student, has carried a diagnosis of asthma since childhood, and Kerrin Robinson is the mother of a toddler with asthma. Both have most generously offered their complementary yet honest perspectives on living with asthma. Their unique contributions to our book significantly enhance its value and use- fulness. We wish to acknowledge Christopher Davis, Executive Publisher for Medicine at Jones and Bartlett Publishers, who has been steadfast in his support for 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma. We are especially grateful to Elizabeth Platt, Special Projects Editor at Jones and Bartlett Publishers, for her enthusiasm about our project, her profession- alism, her top-notch editorial expertise, and not least, her unfailing good humor. We have greatly enjoyed writing the book you now have before you. It has made us think about how best to communicate medical information and how to present the “doctor’s side” of asthma while striking a balance between complex scientific information and everyday practicalities. We hope that you will learn as much from reading 100 Questions & Answers About Your Child’s Asthma as we did from writing it. Claudia S. Plottel, MD, FACP, FCCP B. Robert Feldman, MD, FAAAI, FACAAI, FAAP May 25, 2007 New York City vi aCknowledgments To my husband, Larry Stam, MD, who with Elisabeth and Charles Stam consistently encouraged my efforts and listened to my ramblings about sentence structure and grammatical construction: thank you from the bot- tom of my heart. —Claudia S. Plottel To my wife, Clare, who has been my constant source of encouragement for the past 46 years; my son, David, whose assistance as a critic and my techno- advisor has played an invaluable role in the production of this book; and to my daughter, Janet, who never stops telling me that “I’m the best”—you have my never-ending love. —B. Robert Feldman dediCation Dedication For Charles and for Elisabeth. Love you always, now and forever . . . CSP To all the patients I have cared for who never stop asking questions, this book will hopefully provide you with some of the answers. BRF

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