TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - The Biology of Asthma A1 - Bell, Matthew C. A1 - Busse, William W. A2 - Grippi, Michael A. A2 - Elias, Jack A. A2 - Fishman, Jay A. A2 - Kotloff, Robert M. A2 - Pack, Allan I. A2 - Senior, Robert M. A2 - Siegel, Mark D. Y1 - 2015 N1 - T2 - Fishman's Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 5e AB - Asthma is characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person.1 More than 18 million adults and 7 million children are affected in the United States alone, making asthma one of the most common chronic diseases in this country.2 Attempts to elucidate the underlying pathophysiology of the disease have led to the realization that asthma truly is a protean disease with various cell types and mechanisms playing variable but important roles in each patient. This degree of mechanistic variation explains the numerous phenotypes of this disease as well as the differences in response to treatment. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1122359199 ER -