What are some difficulties in dealing with teens with asthma?
The unique part about asthma in adolescence is that adolescents are unique. It’s challenging to have adolescent patients recognize their symptoms. They don’t want to be different, and they’re often less aware of physical symptoms than they are of what they might be doing on the weekend, or that they need to get their homework in on time. We have to be more aware of the more subtle cues such as coughing at night, exercise limitations, or colds or coughs that are lasting longer than normal. Adolescents often don’t tell me their symptoms or haven’t even recognized themselves that when they tried to throw a Frisbee with their friend, they couldn’t run very fast or very far. Or they might not notice that they’re kind of sleepy because they’ve been coughing an asthma cough for several nights. So it takes a unique relationship with a patient get to the truth. However, it’s not impossible and once that can be achieved, it’s very gratifying as a physician, because adolescents are great to work
