الفهرس 
introductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 16 |  |  |
| | | from | 16 | | |
Abstract
Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease, affecting up to 10% of adults and 30% of children in the Western world. Despite advances in asthma management, acute exacerbations continue to occur and impose considerable morbidity on patients and constitute a major burden on health care resources. (1)
It is the most common chronic disease of childhood and the leading cause of childhood morbidity from chronic disease as measured by school absences, emergency department visits and hospitalizations.(2)
In the United States 12.7% of children aged younger than 18 years have been given a diagnosis of asthma at some point in their lifetime (9 million children), and 70% have been reported to have asthma currently (6.5 million). Recently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that asthma prevalence in children has again increased from 8.7% in 2001 to 9.6% in 2009. (3)Although almost 50% of children report wheezes in the first 6 years of life, only 40% of these toddlers will experience continued wheezing symptoms in later childhood. (4)
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The chronic inflammation is associated with airway hyperresponsiveness that lead to recurrent episodes of wheezing,breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. These episodes are usually associated with widespread, but variable, airflow obstruction within the lung that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment.(5)
Although asthma cannot be cured at present, symptoms can.