Asthma Sourcebook, Fifth Edition provides basic consumer information about the different types of asthma and how they are diagnosed and treated. It includes information about the most common asthma triggers and suggests strategies for minimizing or avoiding them. It provides tips for managing asthma at school and in daily life and discusses common asthma concerns among older adults, pregnant women, and athletes. The book concludes with a glossary of related terms and a list of resources for further help and information.

This book is divided into parts and chapters. Parts focus on broad areas of interest. Chapters are devoted to single topics within a part.

Part I: Asthma Basics explains how the lungs work and describes what happens when asthma occurs. It discusses what is known about the causes of asthma and describes the most common asthma triggers. Finally, it provides statistics on the prevalence of asthma, both in the United States and worldwide.

Part II: Recognizing and Diagnosing Asthma describes what asthma attacks are and explains what to do when one occurs. It provides details about the different types of asthma and describes the tests and procedures most often used to diagnose the disorder.

Part III: Medications and Management discusses the different types of medications used to treat asthma. It explains the differences between reliever and controller medications and discusses when each should be used. It discusses the adverse effects related to the use of asthma medications and describes how the different medication delivery mechanisms should be used and maintained. It concludes with a description of the latest developments in asthma treatment.

Part IV: Living with Asthma provides tips on overcoming the challenges that are part of living with asthma. It describes asthma triggers and explains how to minimize or avoid them. It discusses the conditions that most commonly co-occur with asthma and offers suggestions for keeping asthma under control through lifestyle management. Finally, it outlines strategies for safely traveling with asthma and discusses the laws protecting the rights of those with the disorder.

Part V: Pediatric Asthma deals with common concerns about asthma in children. It explains how asthma is diagnosed in babies and young children and discusses the safety and effectiveness of the different treatments for children. It provides tips for handling asthma flare-ups in children and discusses how to deal with asthma at school and when children are participating in sports and other physical activity.

Part VI: Asthma in Other Special Populations discusses the particular challenges of managing asthma in pregnant women, older adults, and athletes. It describes the differing incidence rates of asthma among minority populations and discusses the disorder’s disproportionate affect on low-income populations.

Part VII: Additional Help and Information includes a glossary of terms related to asthma and a directory of resources for further help and support.