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If you or your child has been diagnosed with asthma, work with your doctor to learn how manage it yourself. You can work with your doctor to develop a treatment plan, called an asthma action plan.

Most people who have asthma are treated with daily medicine, called long-term control medicines, along with inhalers containing medicine for short-term relief during an asthma attack or when symptoms worsen.

Your doctor may diagnose asthma based on your medical history, a physical exam, and results from diagnostic tests. Your history of asthma symptoms will help your doctor determine if you have mild, moderate, or severe asthma.

How often asthma symptoms occur may depend on how severe, or intense, the asthma is, and whether you are exposed to allergens. Some people have symptoms every day, while others have symptoms only a few days of the year.

There is no routine screening for asthma, and there is no way to prevent asthma. Your doctor may recommend avoiding triggers to help prevent asthma from getting worse or causing asthma attacks.

You may have an increased risk of asthma because of your environment or occupation, your family history or genes, other medical conditions, your race or ethnicity, or your sex.

The exact cause of asthma is unknown, and the causes may vary from person to person. However, asthma is often the result of a strong response of the immune system to an allergen in the environment.

Asthma is a chronic, or long-term, condition that intermittently inflames and narrows the airways in the lungs. The inflammation makes the airways swell. Asthma causes periods of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing.

Learn more about NCI CGH Project ECHO® Program.