Asthma Health Article

Prognosis

There is currently no cure for asthma. Proper treatment and management has dramatically improved the quality of life for individuals with asthma. When medication is utilized properly, the prognosis for most asthmatics is excellent. An improvement in environmental conditions can reduce the number and severity of asthma attacks and improve the prognosis for asthmatics. Such improvement is also believed to affect the overall prognosis for a society, simply by decreasing the number of individuals sensitized to environmental triggers.

BOOKS

Katzung, B. G. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Seventh Edition. Stamford, CT: Appleton and Lange, 1998.

Roitt, I., J. Brostoff, and D. Male. Immunology, Fifth Edition. London, England: Mosby International, 1998.

PERIODICALS

"Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures." The New England Journal of Medicine 343 (December 14, 2000): 24.

"Day Care, Siblings, and Asthma—Please, Sneeze on My Child." The New England Journal of Medicine 343 (August 24, 2000): 8.

Folkerts, Gert, Gerhard Walzl, and Peter J. M. Openshaw. "Do Common Childhood Infections 'Teach' the Immune System Not to Be Allergic?" Immunology Today 21, no. 3 (2000): 118–120.

Herz, Udo, Paige Lacy, Harald Renz, and Klaus Erb. "The Influence of Infections on the Development and Severity of Allergic Disorders." Current Opinion in Immunology 12, no. 6 (2000): 632–640.

Illi, S., E. von Mutius, S. Lau, R. Bergmann, B. Niggemann, C. Sommerfeld, and U. Wahn. "Early Childhood Infectious Diseases and the Development of Asthma Up to School Age: A Birth Cohort Study." British Medical Journal 322 (February 17, 2001): 390–395.

Johnston, Sebastian L., and Peter J. M. Openshaw. "The Protective Effect of Childhood Infections—The Next Challenge Is to Mimic Safely This Protection Against Allergy and Asthma." British Medical Journal 322 (February 17, 2001): 376–377.

"Siblings, Day-Care Attendance, and the Risk of Asthma and Wheezing." The New England Journal of Medicine 343, no. 26 (December 28, 2000).

ORGANIZATIONS

Allergy and Asthma Network. Mothers of Asthmatics, Inc. 2751 Prosperity Ave., Suite 150, Fairfax, VA 22031. (800) 878-4403. Fax: (703) 573-7794.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 611 E. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53202. (414) 272-6071. Fax: (414) 272-6070. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.aaaai.org/default.stm>.

American Lung Association. 1740 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. (212) 315-8700 or (800) 586-4872. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.lungusa.org>.

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). 1233 20th St. NW, Suite 402, Washington, DC 20036. (800) 7-ASTHMA. Fax: (202) 466-8940. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.aafa.org>.

Division of Lung Diseases, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Suite 10122, 6701 Rockledge Dr. MSC 7952, Bethesda, MD 20892-7952. (301) 435-0233. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm>.

Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). (207) 594-5008. Fax: (207) 594-8802. shurd@prodigy.net. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.ginasthma.com>.

KidsHealth. Nemours Center for Children's Health Media. PO Box 269, Wilmington, DE 19899. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.kidshealth.org>.

National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP). School Asthma Education Subcommittee. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Asthma/Asthma_WhatIs.html>.

National Center for Environmental Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mail Stop F-29, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/>.

National Institutes of Health (NIH). PO Box 5801, Bethesda, MD 20824. (800) 352-9424. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.ninds.nih.gov>.

OTHER

Asthma. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/index.htm>.

Asthma and Allergies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/asthma>.

Asthma Basics. National Institutes of Health. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/focuson/asthma01/basics.htm>.

Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality, 2002. National Center for Health Statistics. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/asthma/asthma.htm>.

Breath of Life Exhibition. National Library of Medicine. (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/breath/breath_exhibit/mainframe.html>.

"What Makes Asthma Worse?" medfacts 2000. Lung Line, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackson Street, Denver, CO 80206. (303) 388-4461 (7700). (April 18, 2005.) <http://www.nationaljewish.org/medfacts/worse.html>.

Maria Basile, PhD