Results of studies of the epidemiology, physiology, histopathology, and cell biology of
asthma have revised our conception of the disease. Epidemiologic studies have shown
asthma to be an important cause of death, suffering, and economic hardship. Physiologic
studies have shown that asthma is a chronic illness characterized by persistent bronchial
hyperreactivity. Histopathologic studies have shown characteristic changes: epithelial
damage, deposition of collagen beneath the basement membrane, eosinophilic and …