Can you "outgrow" asthma?

People ask me all the time if you can "outgrow" asthma. They brightly tell me stories of how their cousin's next-door neighbor's babysitter's best friend out grew hers, so I can too! Well, I haven't. And it seems like my asthma is worse now than it's ever been. And as a mom of three kids, you can guess that I'm well into adulthood now-and I haven't "outgrown" my asthma.

So I was interested to hear a telehealth this week from the Utah Asthma Program that was given by Dr. David Gourley. He said that many people do NOT outgrow their asthma, or have their asthma 'disappear.' It can actually become 'dormant' in 30% to 50% of kids at puberty, but often reappears when you are an adult. He also said that the odds are higher if the child has eczema or other family members do.

It makes sense to me, my asthma wasn't that bad when I was younger. But I take a maintenance medication every day now and don't go anywhere without my inhaler.

My poor kids haven't "outgrown" their asthma either. We have eczema, allergies and asthma on Hubby's side of the family too, so I'm afraid our kids were doomed to have asthma! Funny how some things tend to run in families.

So, just another little nugget of information. Don't be too relaxed into thinking that your kids can or will outgrown their asthma. There's always hope! But I would keep asthma medications handy and be aware of the signs and symptoms of an asthma attack. Make sure you are having annual checkups with your doctor.

If you want to listen to more of the Asthma telehealth presentations, click here. Scroll down the page and you'll see the presentations listed at the bottom. There's a new one every 3 months, Dr. Gourley's isn't on there yet, but should be shortly.

Happy viewing and grab some popcorn. Oooh, and some tasty peanut M&M's!