Asthma Health Center

Asthma is a long-term disease that can't be cured. The goal of asthma treatment is to control the disease. Good asthma control will:

• Prevent chronic and troublesome symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath
• Reduce your need for quick-relief medicines (see below)
• Help you maintain good lung function
• Let you maintain your normal activity level and sleep through the night
• Prevent asthma attacks that could result in an emergency room visit or hospital stay

To control asthma, partner with your doctor to manage your asthma or your child's asthma. Children aged 10 or older—and younger children who are able—also should take an active role in their asthma care.

Taking an active role to control your asthma involves:

• Working with your doctor to treat other conditions that can interfere with asthma management.
• Avoiding things that worsen your asthma (asthma triggers). However, one trigger you should not avoid is physical activity. Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Talk with your doctor about medicines that can help you stay active.
• Working with your doctor and other health care providers to create and follow an asthma action plan.

Asthma is treated by lifestyle modification (avoiding allergens and triggers), as well as a multitude of medications for short term relief like albuterol(Ventolin, ProAir), ipratropium (Atrovent), and epinephrine. Long-term care is treated with steroids (Pulmicort, Flovent, Qvar), leukotriene antagonists (Zyflor CR, Singulair), and long acting beta-adrenoreceptor agonists (Serevent, Foradil).