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Medical Author:

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

Dr. Schiffman received his B.S. degree with High Honors in biology from Hobart College in 1976. He then moved to Chicago where he studied biochemistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. He attended Rush Medical College where he received his M.D. degree in 1982 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of California, Irvine.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Asthma symptoms and attacks can improve with treatment or with time, but asthma as a disease is not curable. Treatment can go on for a long time, and some people have to use medication for the rest of their lives.

Approximately half of children diagnosed with asthma outgrow their disease by late adolescence or early adulthood and require no further treatment. In some of these individuals, however, exposure to major respiratory irritants (such as smoking, massive exposure to fumes, etc.) later in life may trigger asthma symptoms once again.

Patients who do not control their asthma usually develop more severe asthma over time. More importantly, the chronic airway inflammation that can be found in asthma when left unchecked can result in permanent airway damage. This damage can cause patients to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In fact, the most common cause for the development of COPD in nonsmokers is asthma.

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