New Frontiers in Research on the Respiratory System

Abstract

Management of children with chronic lung diseases has focused on diagnosing the underlying cause or etiology of the disease and treating the consequences, such as hypersecretion, chronic infection, and inflammation. In this context, only a few respiratory diseases have specific treatments, such as immunoglobulin therapy or bone marrow transplantation for certain immune deficiencies and nonspecific therapies such as DNase for bronchiectasis in patients with cystic fibrosis. These treatments have generally been considered nonspecific for infection, inflammation, and mucus clearance. Many of these treatments have been “reactive” to problems and in general not “proactive”; consequently, the clinical benefit (or its absence) has been relatively easy to assess. Recent research in respiratory medicine has dramatically changed the way in which we understand chronic diseases and how they behave during childhood. This chapter reviews examples of chronic diseases to improve our understanding of this modern paradigm.