Does regular use of peak flow meters improve asthma outcomes in school aged children?

摘要

Asthma is a chronic reactive airway disease characterized by smooth muscle constriction of small airways caused by inflammation and narrowing of the airways in response to asthma triggers. Symptoms of this include cough, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Causes of asthma include environmental allergens, infection, airway irritants and changes in weather. Airway inflammation and narrowing are reversible but if left untreated can have devastating outcomes.1 Asthma affects approximately seven percent of the population of the United States, including approximately 12% of children in the United States under the age of 18. This is an estimated 9,100,00 children in the United States. An estimated 4,000 people die from asthma each year in this country alone.