Asthma Glossary for Parents

Action Plan  - This is the personal plan you set up with your child’s doctor that indicates when your child should take different types of medicine or what to do in an emergency. It’s sometimes called an Asthma Management Plan.

Allergen - Something that can cause your child to cough or wheeze or have an asthma flare-up.  Common allergens include dust mites, cockroach droppings, dander from pets, and pollen from trees, grass and weeds.

Allergy – When your child’s body is sensitive to certain things, they have an allergy to them.  Having an allergy to something can cause sneezing, itchy eyes, a stuffy nose, coughing, wheezing and a hard time breathing. If your child has allergies, it doesn’t mean they have asthma. It just means that their allergies can make their asthma worse.

Anti-inflammatory Medicine - A medicine that reduces or prevents inflammation, or swelling, in the lungs to help your child breathe better. Anti-inflammatory medicine also causes the lining of the lungs to produce less mucus.  Anti-inflammatory medicines that are swallowed, like in a pill or syrup, are taken when your child has serious symptoms and they need fast relief.  But anti-inflammatory medicines that are breathed in through an inhaler are used to prevent asthma symptoms and to keep inflammation in the lungs under control.

Asthma – A disease that makes your child’s lungs sensitive and can make it hard for them to breathe.  The inflammation causes wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Your child’s asthma can be controlled by taking the right medicine, and by avoiding their asthma triggers.

Asthma Trigger - Anything that can cause asthma, an asthma flare-up, or make your child’s asthma symptoms worse. These symptoms can include a cough, wheeze, chest tightness, or shortness of breath. Common asthma triggers are a cold or flu, cold air, exercise, dust, pet dander, pollen, smoke, chalkdust, and air pollution. Sometimes things that don’t seem like asthma triggers can act like them, such as getting scared, and even laughing or crying really hard.

Bronchi  - The bronchi are the tubes in your lungs that air passes through when you breathe.  Bronchi are another name for airways.

Bronchoconstriction  - Bronchoconstriction is when the muscles in your child’s lungs squeeze together and make it hard for them to breathe. Bronchoconstriction causes your child to feel tightness in their chest, to have shortness of breath, and to hear a wheezing sound when they breathe.

Bronchodilator  - A medicine that opens up the airways in the lungs. There are two types of bronchodilators. The first type is a short-acting one  (such as albuterol) that quickly opens up the airways in the lungs when they become tight due to asthma. This type of bronchodilator should always be with your child in case they need quick relief.  The second type of bronchodilator is long-acting and is taken it daily to prevent asthma symptoms.

Anti-inflammatory medicine  - Anti-inflammatory medicine is taken to help prevent the swelling and mucus that builds up in your child’s lungs. Corticosteroid medicines are the most common types of anti-inflammatory medicine and are very similar to the natural steroids that the body produces to control inflammation. Corticosteroids are different from the harmful steroids that athletes and body builders take. Corticosteroid medicine that is swallowed (usually as pills or liquid) is for serious symptoms, but corticosteroid medicine that is breathed in is used to prevent symptoms.

Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) – A type of inhaler used to get medicine into your child’s lungs.  This medicine device delivers a specific amount of medicine into the lungs which comes out in a dry, powder form.

Inflammation  - Inflammation is the swelling that’s always in your child’s lungs when they have asthma. Inflammation can build up and even block the airways, making it difficult for your child to breathe. Inflammation usually gets worse when your child comes into contact with their asthma triggers. Anti-inflammatory medicine helps reduce the inflammation that is always in your child’s lungs and prevents inflammation from building up in the first place.

Inhaler – This is a device that is used to get medicine into the lungs.  Inhalers can be used to take either long-term control medicine or quick-relief medicine. An inhaler is sometimes called a Puffer, Pump, MDI or DPI.

Long-Term Control Medicine - Medicine that your child takes every day to help manage their asthma and prevent asthma symptoms.  One type of long-term control medicine is an inhaled anti-inflammatory. Long-term control medicine is sometimes called Controller medicine or Preventer medicine.

Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) – A type of inhaler used to get medicine into your child’s lungs.  An MDI is a small spray canister that is used to take medicine that is inhaled through the mouth.  An MDI is sometimes called an Inhaler or Puffer.

Mucus - A thick, sticky substance made to protect and moisten parts of the body, including the lungs and nose.  Having some mucus is good because it can help trap asthma triggers, but if too much mucus builds up, it can make it very hard to breathe.

Nebulizer Machine – A machine that turns medicine into a mist or spray so that your child can breathe it into their lungs. Usually a face mask or mouthpiece is used with a nebulizer machine to make sure the medicine gets into the lungs.

Peak Flow Meter (also called a Peak Flow Monitor)  - A peak flow meter lets your child know how open their airways are.  It is a device used to measure how much air your child can breathe out of their lungs, just like a thermometer measures their fever.  Peak flow meters help you monitor your child’s asthma so you can stay on top of any changes in their breathing.  There are three zones on the peak flow meter: a green zone which tells you that your child’s breathing is at its best; a yellow zone that means your child needs to take quick relief medicine; and a red zone that says your child needs to take emergency medicine and to tell you or a doctor right away.

Personal Best Number  - This is the highest number your child can get on a peak flow meter when their breathing is at its best.  It is the number your child aims for when they take their daily peak flow reading.

Puffer- Another name for an inhaler, or pump, that is used to take asthma medicine.

Quick-Relief Medicine – Quick-relief medicines  (such as albuterol) work by opening the airways quickly when your child feels asthma symptoms such as coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, or shortness of breath.  These medicines are also called short-term medicines, rescue medicines, reliever medicines, or bronchodilators.  If these medicines do not give your child fast relief, your child needs to tell you or their doctor right away.

Side Effects – This is a name for any problems that can be caused by taking medicine, like getting a headache or stomachache. Tell your child’s doctor about any side effects they may feel from their medication.

Spacer Chamber – A spacer is a device that can be attached to the end of a metered dose inhaler to help get medicine into the lungs. It helps to make sure that the medicine is getting into the lungs. The Spacer Chamber has a place for a mouthpiece or mask on one end, and a place for an inhaler on the other end. There are two kinds of Spacer chambers that can attach to an inhaler: a Tube spacer, which looks like a plastic tube, and a Bag spacer, which looks like a plastic bag.