Book Review: Asthma Information for Teens
Asthma Information for Teens - A Disappointing New Book
Teenagers seem to have more difficulty controlling their asthma when compared to other age groups. Younger children are "spoon-fed" their asthma controller medications by parents every day, but many teens, as they become more independent, no longer want to be told what to do. Teens don't want their friends to know that they have asthma since that label might make them less socially acceptable, so they "forget" to take a rescue inhaler when they leave the house.
There are only one or two small paperback books about asthma written for teenagers, so I was eager to buy and read the new 350 page, hardcover book "Asthma Information for Teens" from Omnigraphics, edited by Karen Bellenir. This first edition needs a lot more editing. There is considerable redundancy, and many short chapters would have been better summarized in two sentences. Each of the 60 chapters is simply information downloaded from an Internet site, an action that many teens are more likely to undertake instead of reading this thick book without pictures (and precious few diagrams). This makes the "organization" more like a jumbled "flight of ideas."
The information in this new teen book is up-to-date, including a chapter on omalizumab (anti-IgE shots for severe allergic asthma). However that chapter gives a long list of rare side effects from the shots but no idea who might benefit from this new therapy (rich kids with very severe allergic asthma and high IgE levels). Very often terms that most nurses would not understand are used, such as pathophysiologic, anticholinergics, arginine genotype, leukotriene modifiers, methylxanthines, immunotherapy, and nonadherence. The editor often details the credentials of the physicians and organizations which produced the material, but it's highly unlikely that teen readers will be impressed by attributions like, "Jerry A. Kishnan, MD, instructor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine."
Some of the information in this book is misleading, such as "cats may protect against asthma; asthmatics are 12 times more likely to develop COPD; allergy shots can sometimes prevent asthma; and it is essential that all people with chronic diseases take their prescribed medications as directed by their doctors." Some sections don't even apply to teenagers, such as "The Difference Between Bronchial Asthma and Cardiac Asthma" (which occurs only in older folks with heart failure).
The ability to remain highly active and engage in sports and outdoor activities is very important to teens, but the information about how to prevent and treat exercise-induced bronchospasm are short and inadequate. Marijuana remains available and socially acceptable to most teen,, yet is not mentioned. Teens want to become independent, but this book does not encourage them to assume responsibility for their own asthma management, and to utilize health care professionals as resources, not dictators. Although a list of 23 Internet sites with asthma information is given at the end of the book (not including WebMD), their advantages and disadvantages are not discussed, and the readers are not given any advice on how to separate evidence-based truth from advertising and greed.
If you are a teenager with asthma (or the parent of one), Doctor Tom Plaut's Asthma Guide remains the best book to read.
Related Topics: Treating Asthma: Partnering with Your Doctor, Pets and Allergies (WebMD Video)
Technorati Tags: Asthma Information For Teens, asthma, allergies and asthma
Teenagers seem to have more difficulty controlling their asthma when compared to other age groups. Younger children are "spoon-fed" their asthma controller medications by parents every day, but many teens, as they become more independent, no longer want to be told what to do. Teens don't want their friends to know that they have asthma since that label might make them less socially acceptable, so they "forget" to take a rescue inhaler when they leave the house.
There are only one or two small paperback books about asthma written for teenagers, so I was eager to buy and read the new 350 page, hardcover book "Asthma Information for Teens" from Omnigraphics, edited by Karen Bellenir. This first edition needs a lot more editing. There is considerable redundancy, and many short chapters would have been better summarized in two sentences. Each of the 60 chapters is simply information downloaded from an Internet site, an action that many teens are more likely to undertake instead of reading this thick book without pictures (and precious few diagrams). This makes the "organization" more like a jumbled "flight of ideas."
The information in this new teen book is up-to-date, including a chapter on omalizumab (anti-IgE shots for severe allergic asthma). However that chapter gives a long list of rare side effects from the shots but no idea who might benefit from this new therapy (rich kids with very severe allergic asthma and high IgE levels). Very often terms that most nurses would not understand are used, such as pathophysiologic, anticholinergics, arginine genotype, leukotriene modifiers, methylxanthines, immunotherapy, and nonadherence. The editor often details the credentials of the physicians and organizations which produced the material, but it's highly unlikely that teen readers will be impressed by attributions like, "Jerry A. Kishnan, MD, instructor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine."
Some of the information in this book is misleading, such as "cats may protect against asthma; asthmatics are 12 times more likely to develop COPD; allergy shots can sometimes prevent asthma; and it is essential that all people with chronic diseases take their prescribed medications as directed by their doctors." Some sections don't even apply to teenagers, such as "The Difference Between Bronchial Asthma and Cardiac Asthma" (which occurs only in older folks with heart failure).
The ability to remain highly active and engage in sports and outdoor activities is very important to teens, but the information about how to prevent and treat exercise-induced bronchospasm are short and inadequate. Marijuana remains available and socially acceptable to most teen,, yet is not mentioned. Teens want to become independent, but this book does not encourage them to assume responsibility for their own asthma management, and to utilize health care professionals as resources, not dictators. Although a list of 23 Internet sites with asthma information is given at the end of the book (not including WebMD), their advantages and disadvantages are not discussed, and the readers are not given any advice on how to separate evidence-based truth from advertising and greed.
If you are a teenager with asthma (or the parent of one), Doctor Tom Plaut's Asthma Guide remains the best book to read.
Related Topics: Treating Asthma: Partnering with Your Doctor, Pets and Allergies (WebMD Video)
Technorati Tags: Asthma Information For Teens, asthma, allergies and asthma
