ABSTRACT

Asthma is a syndrome rather than a specific disease entity. The presentations and courses of asthmatics differ in many aspects. Clinicians commonly encounter patients who present several varying features of the disease such as presence or absence of allergic disease, nocturnal symptoms, aspirin sensitivity, and response to anti-inflammatory therapy. Age of onset of symptoms is one such variation that is poorly understood. Whether the stage of life when disease manifests represents a fundamental difference in the pathogenesis is unknown.