This article was written by Dr. Penny S. Cass, PhD, RN, dean of the Indiana University Kokomo Division of Nursing. Cass earned her doctoral degree in nursing from the University of Michigan, has been a nurse administrator since 1984 and dean since 1994. Her area of specialty is maternal-child health issues. In the United States, asthma affects approximately three million children with the number of incidences, the severity, and the mortality rate all on the increase. The spring and fall seem to be the seasons where more children have more symptoms.
Asthma attacks are the most common cause of hospitalizations of school age children.
Many people want to know just what is asthma. Asthma is a chronic obstructive disease of the airways. It has been called many different things such as asthmatic bronchitis or reactive airway disease. It has even been misdiagnosed as bronchitis or pneumonia. Whatever it is called, what happens is the lining of the airways becomes inflamed.