Allergies and Asthma: What Every Parent Needs to Know

From the leading authority on children's health comes an invaluable resource for parents and caregivers trying to cope with the challenges of childhood asthma and allergies. This guide has been updated to reflect new research and recommendations, including new guidelines for monitoring asthma from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as well as the latest information on the treatment of allergies, specifically food allergies. Topics such as identifying allergies and asthma, preventing attacks, minimizing triggers and avoiding allergens, choosing medications wisely, and explaining allergies to young children are covered in detail. Also providing guidance on medications, recommendations on patient education in settings beyond the physician's office, and new advice for controlling environmental factors that can cause asthma symptoms, this reference helps families deal with the most common chronic childhood diseases of asthma and allergies.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 66,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. The AAP is the largest pediatric publisher in the world, with a diverse list of resources that includes award-winning books for parents and essential clinical and practice management titles.

Michael J. Welch, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP, CPI, is codirector of the Allergy and Asthma Medical Group and Research Center in San Diego, CA, and clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Dr Welch earned his medical degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he later completed an internship and residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in allergy/immunology. Dr Welch is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. He is past president of the San Diego Allergy Society and the California Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. He lives in San Diego.