title: The practical understanding and treatment of asthma.
abstract: Asthma is a syndrome which is seen by physicians in nearly every specialty and affects millions of people throughout the world. Although the geoepidemiology with respect to prevalence and incidence of asthma does vary, even under the most mild of circumstance, asthma is among the leading causes of school absenteeism, work loss, and physician visits. In the past, it was considered primarily a disorder of childhood. Hence, the adage that children outgrow their asthma. We now realize that children really only outgrow their pediatrician and the genetic predisposition to asthma and bronchial hyperactivity persists throughout life. This issue is devoted to key papers that focus on important clinical problems in allergies and asthma. This issue is dedicated to helping the many sufferers of asthma with the hope that this topic will eventually become a medical anachronism.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of California at Davis School of Medicine, 451 Health Sciences Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA. megershwin@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: M Eric
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gershwin
authors.forename: Timothy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Albertson
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D014937:Work