The Asthma and Allergy Action Plan for Kids: A Complete Program to Help Your Child Live a Full and Active Life

by Allen J. Dozor, Kate Kelly

Overview

Statistics show that up to 40 percent of children in the United States suffer from allergies and at least 10 percent suffer from asthma. That translates into almost five million American children affected by both allergies and asthma. And as Dr. Allen J. Dozor, head of one of the largest pediatric pulmonary practices in the United States, has seen among his patients, some of the most upsetting effects of allergies and asthma are the psychological wounds inflicted on a child's self-image. There is the constant protectiveness from caregivers, confusing limits and rules, headaches, obesity, shortness of breath, and sleep deprivation. In some cases these side effects, such as stress and obesity, cycle back to make the original condition worse.
Dr. Dozor's plan, developed over the last twenty years, is designed to empower both parents and children. His warmhearted but reality-based approach includes

• How to give the right amount of medication for best effects and no side effects
• Empowering your children to manage their own condition so that they can feel safe and secure
• Prevention and management in school
• Handling emergencies

And much more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439104378
Publisher:	Touchstone
Publication date:	06/17/2008
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Allen J. Dozor, MD, is chief of pediatric pulmonology at the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at New York Medical College.

Kate Kelly (1950-2012) was the coauthor of two bestselling books, You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?! and The ADDed Dimension. An advanced practice mental health nurse with over thirty years’ experience as a family, group, and individual therapist, she was a legendary pioneer in the world of Adult ADHD and founded the ADDed Dimension Coaching Group.

Read an Excerpt

Asthma and Allergy Action Plan for Kids

A Complete Program to Help Your Child Live a Full and Active Life

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By Dozor, Allen

Fireside

Dozor, Allen
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0743235770

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Excerpt

Introduction: Why This Book Is So Important to Me

Soon after I began working in medical research as part of a summer science program in high school, I knew that I loved academic medicine. Clinical research seemed a great way of combining my desire to do something "important" with the joy of learning. I devoted most summers in high school and college to cardiac and cardiovascular research, and I seemed destined for a career as an academic cardiologist. But in my pediatric residency in New York City, I learned that the number one reason children were hospitalized was respiratory disease. For three years I worked more than a hundred hours a week caring for children with difficulty breathing. I was struck by how little we really understood about common childhood illnesses such as allergies and asthma, croup, bronchitis, pneumonia, and cystic fibrosis; and how often our medications proved inadequate. I remember doing everything I could for a child and then sitting with anxious parents, all of us praying their child would get better.

It's hard to believe now, but back then there were no specialists for these most common illnesses in pediatrics - there were no pediatric pulmonologists. When I learned that a few of the major children's hospitals in the country had small training programs, including Harvard's Children's Hospital in Boston, a lightbulb went on for me. Here was an opportunity to do something new and special and very important.

I was fortunate to have excellent pediatricians, who were really good at taking care of children with breathing problems, as role models. With their guidance, I cared for hundreds of children with asthma and watched many patients of all ages die of respiratory failure - from two-pound babies in the neonatal ICU to teenagers and young adults with cystic fibrosis. As a resident I often stayed up all night at the bedside of a child gasping for air. I remember like it was yesterday an eight-year-old with severe croup, a disease that normally affects infants and toddlers. With croup, anxiety and fear significantly worsen respiratory distress, so I spent the night holding this boy's hand and reassuring him to keep him calm. By the time the sun came up the next morning, the medicines had taken effect. His breathing relaxed at last. I felt exhilarated; we had made it through together.

Children are so wonderful, so innocent and fresh, so trusting and appreciative. No matter how tired I was after one of those thirty-six-hour shifts, I would saunter home feeling so lucky that these children and their parents allowed me to share these special moments with them. I continue to pursue solutions for these children; and I have made my life's work caring for youngsters who suffer from all types of breathing difficulties. While much of this information is applicable to adults, my area of expertise is children. If your child with allergies or asthma is older than twenty-one, this is not the book for you.

I have written this book to empower parents not to settle for less than optimal control of their child's allergies or asthma. Parents have the right to demand more from their physicians and from the medications they prescribe. I want to convey this message to as many parents as possible so our children grow up living happy, active lives.

Allen J. Dozor, M.D.
August 2003(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Asthma and Allergy Action Plan for Kids by Dozor, Allen Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction: Why This Book Is So Important to Me

1 What Is Happening to Your Child?

1 An Unnecessary Burden: Feeling Fair-to-Poor When Good-to-Great Is Possible

2 Allergies and Asthma: The Basics

3 Understanding the Causes of Allergic Reactions

2 In Search of a Solution

4 Consulting the Doctor: Pediatrician, Family Physician, or Specialist?

5 Reaching a Diagnosis

6 Identifying Food Allergies

3 Allergy and Asthma Action Plan: Prevention

7 Allergy Shots: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

8 Day-to-Day Prevention at Home and Beyond

9 The Truth About Cats, Dogs, Birds, and Other Animal Friends

10 Prevention and Management of Allergies and Asthma at School

11 Preventing Allergic Reactions to Foods

12 Prevention and Management Away from Home: Sleepovers, Summer Camp, Family Trips, Scuba Diving, and Mountain Climbing

4 Asthma Action Plan: Medication and Treatment

13 Asthma: Overview of Treatment

14 Asthma Triggered by Allergens

15 Asthma Triggered by Infections

16 Asthma Triggered by Exercise

5 Allergy Action Plan: Medication and Treatment

17 Allergic Rhinitis (Nasal Allergies) and Allergic Conjunctivitis (Eye Allergies)

18 Skin Allergies

19 Drug and Insect Allergies

20 Anaphylaxis and Emergency Management of Allergic Reactions

6 Enjoying Life

21 The Psychological Aspects of Managing Allergies and Asthma

22 Keeping Allergies and Asthma Under Control

Appendix: Resources

Student Asthma Action Card

Acknowledgments

Index