Breathing Easier with Asthma — Johns Hopkins Children’s Center Experts Available for Interviews During Asthma Awareness Month

For many children with asthma, May is a peak season — their condition is at its worst, often due to seasonal allergies, pollen or poor air quality that come with this time of year. 

Asthma is a serious chronic lung disease that causes airways to narrow and become swollen. More than 4.5 million children and teens in the U.S. are affected by asthma, which can cause wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and other symptoms. Most children diagnosed with asthma experience their first symptoms by age 5. 

Though there is currently no known cure for asthma, medications can help reduce symptoms and help make breathing easier. 

In observance of Asthma Awareness Month in May and World Asthma Day on May 7, Christy Sadreameli, M.D., pulmonary medicine specialist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, is available to discuss topics related to asthma and children. 

Topics include:

• How asthma is diagnosed
• Helpful tips to manage children’s asthma
• Triggers that can worsen asthma or lead to an asthma attack, and how to avoid them
• The difference between respiratory viruses and asthma
• Health disparities among children with asthma
• When children should see a pulmonologist