If you believe your child has the symptoms of asthma, especially recurrent episodes of coughing or wheezing, call your health care provider. He or she may schedule a diagnostic exam to learn whether asthma might be the cause. What can you and your child expect from a diagnostic exam? That depends in part on the child’s age.

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Whether you’re watching TV or relaxing with a book, do you always fall asleep as soon as you hit the couch? Most people doze off once in a while. But if it happens often, your spontaneous snoozing could point to a sleep disorder like sleep apnea.

According to the National Institutes of Health, most people need 10 to 20 minutes to drift off. Regularly taking only 5 minutes to fall asleep may signal a chronic lack of sleep. If you think you might have a sleep disorder, talk to your doctor about getting a diagnosis so you can treat the problem.

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The average home is teeming with asthma triggers, so when it comes to combating the allergens and irritants that trigger symptoms, the solution is often simpler than you think. Start by cleaning to reduce your exposure to common asthma triggers. This is a key component to a successful asthma management plan, according to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Ignore this simple step and your symptoms are less likely to improve. In fact, they may even worsen. Get started with these cleaning guidelines.

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Are you a hard-core athlete, hitting the track every morning? Or do you only play pick-up games on weekends? Maybe you consider walking around the mall a major workout. No matter how much or how little exercise you’re used to, asthma doesn’t have to affect your level of physical activity, according to the National Institutes of Health. You should expect to be just as active living with asthma as you were before being diagnosed.

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Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Did your chest puff up as you breathed in? Or did your belly push out as your lungs filled with air? If you answered “yes” to the first question, you’re not breathing the way you should. In fact, about one-third of all adults don’t breathe properly. Most of us access only 10% to 20% of our full breathing capacity, according to the National Institute on Aging.

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Looking for a new approach to better breathing? Try facing East. Yoga, the traditional breathing technique of India, has become almost as common as aerobics at U.S. health clubs. More Americans are exploring complementary care (40% have tried some form of it, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association), and a lot of them are focusing on breathing as the key to better health. Breathing exercises may even help manage asthma. Here’s why everyone from Madonna to your mother is breathing like a yogi.

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