Choosing Therapy for Childhood Asthma

For over a century asthma has been recognized as a disorder in which the airways are irritable and narrow too easily and too much in response to a variety of nonspecific stimuli. This view of asthma as a disorder of bronchial hyperresponsiveness led to the use of short-acting β2-adrenergic–receptor agonists by inhalation for the rapid relief of symptoms. Over the past decade, the emphasis has moved from understanding the physiology of airway dysfunction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthma to determining why the impairments occur.In adults, allergic, occupational, and intrinsic asthma are all characterized by the involvement of . . .