Asthma and Wheezing in Young Children

Asthma might seem to be a single, easily recognizable disorder. At the margins, perhaps, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the gray zone of very mild disease can create diagnostic difficulty, but the central ground is no longer problematic. Or so it has seemed. The article by Martinez and his colleagues from Tucson, Arizona, in this issue of the Journal challenges this complacent view.1 Although they describe a study of wheezing disorders in young children, I believe that the authors' main conclusion, that there are several distinct groups of people among those who wheeze, will soon be shown to apply to . . .