Air pollution, tobacco smoke, humidity and allergens such as pollen or dust all can trigger asthma. While there is no cure for asthma, it can be managed with medications, most often inhalants that relax the airway muscles. Children with asthma should be able to lead normal lives. They should sleep through the night and they should engage in normal physical activity. To achieve that, it takes a very good relationship between the family and the physician, said Noreen Clark, Ph.D. dean of the School of Public Health.
Many parents don t understand the benchmark of good asthma care.
In fact, any child with asthma should be able to be put on a clinical regimen that will control the wheezing, the coughing or the other symptoms. Alarmed by the rising rates among children living in the inner cities, researchers from the U-M School of Public Health are educating parents and teachers about the chronic disease, which typically begins in childhood. Asthma rates among children in the inner cities have jumped up to as much as 20 percent in recent years, Clark says. Chronic illnesses due to asthma are the No. 1 reason children miss school, with up to 10 million school days lost every year. University of Michigan researchers are helping children with asthma learn to breathe easier about the disease.