[Therapeutic aspects in the treatment of juvenile bronchial asthma]

The most important goal of the treatment for bronchial asthma in infants and children is to avoid structural damage to bronchi and lung by the underlying allergic and immunologic inflammatory process. This inflammation is caused by an inherited predisposition to exaggerated mediator-release in the mucosa. Repeated actions of trigger factors maintain this inflammation and provoke exacerbations of asthmatic symptoms. The protective task of the bronchial mucosa can not be fulfilled anymore. General measures of asthma treatment such as prophylaxis against house-dust mite exposure, improved breathing technique and improvement of lung clearance are indispensable measures of an individually adapted, effective symptomatic (bronchodilators) and protective (cromolyn, topical steroids) drug therapy in infants and children with bronchial asthma. A successful therapy should ensure a physiological development of the child.