- With Mayo Clinic asthma and allergy specialist
James T. Li, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
James T. Li, M.D.
James T. Li, M.D.
"People with allergy or asthma can lead full and healthy lives." — Dr. James Li
Dr. Li is chair of the Division of Allergic Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine and a board-certified asthma and allergy specialist. He hopes his expertise and the information on the site educates health care consumers in an area of rapid change both in medications and diagnoses.
"There are a lot of misperceptions about allergy and asthma," says Dr. Li, a New York City native who has been with Mayo since 1985 and works with a group of subspecialists in allergy, asthma and immunology. "I believe it's important to provide truthful, accurate information about allergy and asthma to the public. The more people know, the better they can take care of these conditions."
Dr. Li is a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He is a past director of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and is a director of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. He is a fellow in the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and is a director of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology honored him with the Distinguished Service Award and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology with its Special Recognition Award.
Symptoms (2)
- Asthma without wheezing: Is this possible?
- Vocal cord dysfunction: Is it a type of asthma?
Tests and diagnosis (1)
- Reactive airway disease: Is it asthma?
Lifestyle and home remedies (3)
- Ozone air purifiers: Can they improve asthma symptoms?
- Asthma diet: What you eat can affect asthma symptoms
- Asthma: Why are symptoms worse during my period?
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Question
Reactive airway disease: Is it asthma?
My 2-year-old son was diagnosed with reactive airway disease. Is this just a fancy term for asthma?
Answer
from James T. Li, M.D.
Sometimes the terms "reactive airway disease" and "asthma" are used interchangeably. However, they're not necessarily the same thing.
Reactive airway disease is a general term that doesn't indicate a specific diagnosis. It may be used to describe a history of coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath of unknown cause. These signs and symptoms may or may not be caused by asthma.
Use of the term reactive airway disease in part reflects the difficulty in establishing a diagnosis of asthma in certain situations — such as during early childhood. Although it's possible for infants and toddlers to have asthma, tests to diagnose asthma generally aren't accurate before age 6.
Next question
