People with Asthma Should Have an Asthma Action Plan

All people with asthma should have an asthma action plan. An asthma action plan (also called a management plan) is a written plan that you develop with your doctor to help control your asthma.

The asthma action plan shows your daily treatment, such as what kind of medicines to take and when to take them. Your plan describes how to control asthma long term AND how to handle worsening asthma, or attacks. The plan explains when to call the doctor or go to the emergency room.

If your child has asthma, all of the people who care for him or her should know about the child's asthma action plan. These caregivers include babysitters and workers at daycare centers, schools, and camps. These caretakers can help your child follow his or her action plan.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a federal agency, recommends this sample asthma action plan. You and your doctor should develop a written asthma action plan to help control your asthma. Look on the back for a list of possible asthma triggers and ways to avoid them.

• Download a printable Action Plan [PDF 120KB]
• View a web-based Action Plan

An asthma attack happens in your body's airways, which are the paths that carry air to your lungs. As the air moves through your lungs, the airways become smaller, like the branches of a tree are smaller than the tree trunk. During an asthma attack, the sides of the airways in your lungs swell and the airways shrink. Less air gets in and out of your lungs, and mucus that your body produces clogs up the airways even more. The attack may include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Some people call an asthma attack an episode.

An asthma attack can occur when you are exposed to things in the environment, such as house dust mites and tobacco smoke. These are called asthma triggers.

Asthma can be hard to diagnose, especially in children younger than 5 years of age. Regular physical checkups that include checking your lung function and checking for allergies can help your doctor or other medical professional make the right diagnosis.

During a checkup, the doctor or other medical professional will ask you questions about whether you cough a lot, especially at night, and whether your breathing problems are worse after physical activity or during a particular time of year. Doctors will also ask about other symptoms, such as chest tightness, wheezing, and colds that last more than 10 days. They will ask you whether your family members have or have had asthma, allergies, or other breathing problems, and they will ask you questions about your home. The doctor will also ask you about missing school or work and about any trouble you may have doing certain activities.

A lung function test, called spirometry (spy-rom-e-tree), is another way to diagnose asthma. A spirometer (spy-rom-e-ter) measures the largest amount of air you can exhale, or breathe out, after taking a very deep breath. The spirometer can measure airflow before and after you use asthma medicine.

Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is one of the most common long-term diseases of children, but adults have asthma, too. Asthma causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. If you have asthma, you have it all the time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers your lungs.

In most cases, we don't know what causes asthma, and we don't know how to cure it. We know that if someone in your family has asthma, you are also more likely to have it.

You can control your asthma by knowing the warning signs of an attack, staying away from things that trigger an attack, and following the advice of your doctor or other medical professional.

When you control your asthma:

• you won't have symptoms such as wheezing or coughing
• you'll sleep better
• you won't miss work or school
• you can take part in all physical activities
• you won't have to go to the hospital