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PHOTOGRAPH: BARROS & BARROS ©THE IMAGE BANK And they usually are. The problem, of course, is that information concerning what dosages are safe and effective for children at various ages is inadequate. But according to Bielory, this scenario is changing as "thoughtful and ethical investigations of drugs have begun to focus on kids."
There have also been dramatic changes in the understanding of asthma over the past 15 years, which have given rise to better treatment approaches. Once thought to be a disease in which the bronchial tubes become constricted and plugged with mucus, asthma is now known to also involve an increased production of inflammatory cells, a hyper-responsiveness to certain "triggers" and actual physiological changes to the airways.
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ike many psychiatric disorders in children and teens, asthma generally responds to drug treatment, which is also
frequently prescribed "off label." According to Leonard Bielory, MD, director of the Asthma and Allergy Center at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, children are given medications that work well for adults. "We hope that excellent agents for adults will be excellent agents for kids," he says.
