Asthma

Asthma is the leading serious chronic disease among children. It is a life-long illness that affects approximately 9-10% of the population. Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15. Asthma is one of the most common causes of school absenteeism. Because asthma affects your child’s ability to breathe, it’s a serious condition. If not treated effectively, it can drastically affect your child’s quality of life.

Asthma results from chronic inflammation and swelling of the airways in your lungs. These changes produce airway obstruction, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing. Common triggers of asthma are exercise, infections, allergies, irritants, and weather. Severity can vary drastically between patients, but flares can affect ALL patients with asthma. Therefore it is very important to have the knowledge and skills necessary to care for your child’s asthma. Even though asthma cannot be cured, it can almost always be controlled, therefore making quality of life similar to peers.

At ESD Pediatrics, our goal is to provide that knowledge and those skills consistently and comprehensively. Over the last few years, we have been integrally involved with an asthma initiative that has demonstrated drastic improvement in patient education, emergency room visits, and hospital admissions compared to nationwide averages.

Other ways our office can provide this improved care include:

1. In-office spirometry – a computerized method of monitoring your child’s asthma which can delineate severity and response to therapies. It is recommended to be done at least yearly in all asthmatics over the age of 5
2. Comprehensive Education – this includes education in all areas of asthma management. We provide educational handouts, action plans, and consistent office follow-up
3. Flu Vaccines – recommended yearly in all patients with asthma
4. Asthma Registry – keeps track of all our patients allowing us to monitor and report on all aspects of your child’s asthma

Our goal is to develop a team approach that includes families and our office. Hopefully through this cooperation, we can promote outstanding asthma control and compliance allowing our patients to enjoy the best quality of life possible.

Contact Us

Call our office to schedule your child’s next appointment or request an appointment online @ ESD Interactive