Asthma and Teens

The teen years can be rough for kids, and they can be even rougher for teens with asthma. The last thing they want their friends to know is that they're "different." Here are some tips to make parenting an adolescent with asthma a bit easier:

• Many teens don't want to take medication in front of their friends, so ask your doctor if your teen's daily rescue medications. Controller medications work quietly in the background to control airway inflammation without the person actually feeling any immediate effects, so their benefits might go unnoticed. Not taking controller medications when needed can be dangerous and even fatal. If this becomes a concern, discuss it with your doctor immediately.
• It's very common for teens to be in denial about having asthma, and they may stop taking medications, which can lead to more symptoms and peak flow meter (a handheld tool that can be used at home to measure breathing ability) as the final word on whether (and how much) medication is needed to prevent a flare-up.
  
  When peak flow readings drop, it's a sign of increasing airway inflammation. The peak flow meter can detect subtle airway inflammation and obstruction, even when someone feels fine. In some cases, it can detect drops in peak flow readings 2 to 3 days before a flare-up occurs, providing plenty of time to Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD
  Date reviewed: May 2007