Dr. Gail Brottman

Well, that's a really good question. And actually, I don't know that I have a good answer because really our understanding of asthma as it develops in childhood, that you have this swelling in your air tubes that may not always be terrible. It kind of can get worse and better over time. What we do know that there are different,

Well, that's a really good question. And actually, I don't know that I have a good answer because really our understanding of asthma as it develops in childhood, that you have this swelling in your air tubes that may not always be terrible. It kind of can get worse and better over time. What we do know that there are different,

groups, let's just say, of children that have asthma and those relate to risk factors. And let me just explain that briefly. So we understand that asthma runs in families, right? So I don't know if your parents had asthma or allergies, but we know For example, I have very curly hair. My mother had curly hair. My daughter has curly hair. I have freckles.

groups, let's just say, of children that have asthma and those relate to risk factors. And let me just explain that briefly. So we understand that asthma runs in families, right? So I don't know if your parents had asthma or allergies, but we know For example, I have very curly hair. My mother had curly hair. My daughter has curly hair. I have freckles.

So we know that many, many, many things in our body are determined by genetics and asthma is really no different than that, right? And so if you have a genetic predisposition because of family history, If you yourself have allergies or eczema,

So we know that many, many, many things in our body are determined by genetics and asthma is really no different than that, right? And so if you have a genetic predisposition because of family history, If you yourself have allergies or eczema,

basically you're more likely to not grow, outgrow asthma as an adult, really because of all of those other factors that are playing into the airway inflammation, right? There are a group of children, which we unfortunately call early wheezers. We treat them like asthma because they respond, but these are babies age zero to three

basically you're more likely to not grow, outgrow asthma as an adult, really because of all of those other factors that are playing into the airway inflammation, right? There are a group of children, which we unfortunately call early wheezers. We treat them like asthma because they respond, but these are babies age zero to three

that wheeze a lot with viral infections, sometimes between viral infections, that their parents do not have asthma, they don't have allergies, they don't have asthma, they have no risk factors whatsoever, right? But they wheeze and they act like asthma and they actually stop wheezing by the time they're three to five years of age.

that wheeze a lot with viral infections, sometimes between viral infections, that their parents do not have asthma, they don't have allergies, they don't have asthma, they have no risk factors whatsoever, right? But they wheeze and they act like asthma and they actually stop wheezing by the time they're three to five years of age.

And they don't wheeze again necessarily because they just don't have those risk factors. There's another group of children Um, that, uh, is called our late onset wheezers, which this is more your typical asthma where, um, they don't really start wheezing until they're five to seven years old. They're more associated with, uh, developing allergies, seasonal allergies, sometimes food allergies.

And they don't wheeze again necessarily because they just don't have those risk factors. There's another group of children Um, that, uh, is called our late onset wheezers, which this is more your typical asthma where, um, they don't really start wheezing until they're five to seven years old. They're more associated with, uh, developing allergies, seasonal allergies, sometimes food allergies.

Again, most of those kids, there's some family history, maybe not of asthma, but the parents have seasonal allergies or food allergies or something like that. And then there's the other group of children, which we call persistent wheezers, which these are the children that start wheezing when they're young, when they're babies.

Again, most of those kids, there's some family history, maybe not of asthma, but the parents have seasonal allergies or food allergies or something like that. And then there's the other group of children, which we call persistent wheezers, which these are the children that start wheezing when they're young, when they're babies.

Their parents have asthma, they have eczema, there's a lot of allergies. And these are the babies that really develop asthma. Anywhere from 70 to 85% of those children will develop asthma by the time they're age seven. Now, your question about sort of how does this go into adulthood? I think for and not practicing adult medicine. So I'm going to just qualify that.

Their parents have asthma, they have eczema, there's a lot of allergies. And these are the babies that really develop asthma. Anywhere from 70 to 85% of those children will develop asthma by the time they're age seven. Now, your question about sort of how does this go into adulthood? I think for and not practicing adult medicine. So I'm going to just qualify that.

You know, I think that things change actually quite a bit in adolescence. And this is where we see maybe there's some hormonal, you know, influence on what's happening in your airways or something like that, there are a fair amount of adolescents that will stop wheezing and actually not need to use their asthma controller medicine anymore.

You know, I think that things change actually quite a bit in adolescence. And this is where we see maybe there's some hormonal, you know, influence on what's happening in your airways or something like that, there are a fair amount of adolescents that will stop wheezing and actually not need to use their asthma controller medicine anymore.

And so maybe we would say they've kind of outgrown their asthma. I think that my experience, in my opinion, is that if you had asthma as a child, even though you don't have any current asthma symptoms, that if you are exposed to the right trigger, which is what our term is for something that will cause you to have asthma symptoms or an asthma attack, that you probably are going to waste.

And so maybe we would say they've kind of outgrown their asthma. I think that my experience, in my opinion, is that if you had asthma as a child, even though you don't have any current asthma symptoms, that if you are exposed to the right trigger, which is what our term is for something that will cause you to have asthma symptoms or an asthma attack, that you probably are going to waste.