Community Pediatric Asthma Service
What is Asthma?
Asthma is a chronic or long-term disease of the airways, which are the tubes that carry air into our lungs. Asthma causes swelling in our airways and makes the tubes you breathe through get smaller, making breathing difficult.
What does asthma look like?
What happens to your lungs when you have asthma?
Asthma makes breathing difficult
and often results in coughing, wheezing,
shortness of breath and tightness in the chest.
What happens to your body if you have asthma?
Triggers
Inhaled triggers cause the lungs to over-react
Airways
The airways in the lungs get inflamed or swollen
Mucous Builds
Mucus is produced and builds up in the airways
Tighten & Squeeze
Sometimes the muscles around the airways tighten and squeeze the airways
Asthma may be more likely when children have:
Helpful Links
- Asthma Basics: Helpful resources for patients and families new to asthma
- Asthma in Children: Booklet written by Dr. Tom Kozesi, Pediatric Respirologist, (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario)
- Asthma Myths...Busted!
- Breathe Easy Diagnosis, (Asthma Canada)
- Asthma in Children, (Canadian Lung Association Breathe)
- Circle of Care: Taking Control of Asthma – A Guide for Patients, (AstraZeneca)
Walk | Run | Play | Breathe
Material on this website has been designed for information purposes only. It should not be used in place of medical advice, instruction and/or treatment.
If you have specific questions, please consult your doctor or appropriate health care professional.