The Office Management of Chronic Bronchial Asthma

Abstract

At the present time, residential in-patient care is not the most practical method for treating children suffering from chronic bronchial asthma. There is, unfortunately, inadequate bed space available in institutions for children so afflicted. A variety of other reasons, of course, can be cited, that preclude admission to a home for asthmatic children. Therefore, the practicing allergist must be prepared, during the scope of his lifetime of medical practice, to assume the overall responsibility for caring for such children. Those entrusted with their health must give consideration to the differences between the adult and the child afflicted with long standing asthma, including anatomy, physiology, etiology, frequency, psychological factors, differential diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. In children, the thorax, lungs and bronchials are not mere miniatures of the adult organs; the child's capacity to react to a variety of allergens changes with age; in a child, especially in infancy, infection and allergy are important, while inhalant allergens combined with psychogenic factors, as well as infection, are predominant during the school years.