Asthma is the commonest chronic\u2028 illness and one of the most dangerous diseases \u2028in childhood. Paradoxically, it is often recognized late, and the treatment is frequently incorrect or inadequate. The author deals with the \u2028causes and consequences of incorrect diagnostic approach to the asthmatic child. Some \u2028guidelines are presented for recognition of asthmatic illness and for differentiation of asthma \u2028from other chronic and recurrent respiratory \u2028illnesses. The importance of history taking – this\u2028 nearly forgotten medical art – is stressed, as\u2028 accurate and reliable historical data are the\u2028 cornerstones of final diagnosis. Some differential diagnostic clues are discussed. In older\u2028 children, the diagnosis of asthma, based on two \u2028main features of the disease: reversible obstruction and increased responsiveness of the tracheobronchial tree, is confirmed by simple lung \u2028function tests. This obviates the need for evaluating the patient by a chest x-ray, skin tests and\u2028 other allergologic tests. The importance of early \u2028treatment is underlined. Because of its high\u2028incidence asthma should be dealt with in primary health centres. General practitioners and \u2028physicians working in preschool and school\u2028child care centres – being paediatricians or not \u2028- should be involved with the management of\u2028 this disease. It is therefore of great importance\u2028 that medical undergraduates – future physicians – familiarize themselves with proper evaluation and treatment of asthmatic children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Asthma is the commonest chronic\u2028 illness and one of the most dangerous diseases \u2028in childhood. Paradoxically, it is often recognized late, and the treatment is frequently incorrect or inadequate. The author deals with the \u2028causes and consequences of incorrect diagnostic approach to the asthmatic child. Some \u2028guidelines are presented for recognition of asthmatic illness and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[303,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-1992-archive","category-pediatrics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n