Dr. Lawrence Schieken and his staff are committed to providing personalized care to allergy and asthma patients and to helping them lead full and healthy lives. He is the director of the Comprehensive Asthma and Allergy Center in Annapolis, Columbia, and Owings Mills and the Chesapeake Asthma and Allergy Center in Easton (collectively called CAAC).
At all of his centers, adults and children with asthma or allergies will receive the kind of personalized care that reflects an old-fashioned commitment to treating people as individuals, not just a list of symptoms.
Dr. Schieken and his staff spend substantial time asking questions to understand the patient's experience and to discover the root cause of their symptoms. An expert in exercise-induced asthma, he takes a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating patients with the full spectrum of asthma and allergic conditions. For 23 years, Dr. Schieken and his staff have been helping to improve the lives of patients who come to them with everything from asthma and hay fever to chronic cough, sinusitis, bee sting allergies, hives, and food and drug allergies.
All CAAC offices are equipped with the specialty tools needed to identify the sources of chronic respiratory and allergic conditions. Their expertise also helps them to recognize conditions that may mimic allergy or asthma and to then channel patients to the appropriate specialist.
Dr. Schieken's inspiration to pursue a specialty in allergy and asthma came during his residency in pediatrics. By offering follow-up care to a young boy who had been hospitalized for asthma 33 times in eight years, Dr. Schieken was able to keep him out of the hospital for the two years he managed his care. That experience motivated him to complete a joint fellowship in adult and pediatric allergy and immunology at both the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Hospital and serves as a constant reminder to him of the value of ongoing medical care and continuity.
As chronic conditions, allergies and asthma require long-term management. Forming lasting partnerships with patients, CAAC staff helps them to understand and manage their conditions so they can lead active, healthy lives.
Dr. Schieken's dedication to continuity is reflected in the way he runs his practice. The CAAC medical staff has been together since Dr. Schieken opened his first center 23 years ago. When a patient comes to one of the centers, they will feel as if they are visiting trusted partners who can confidently guide them through their medical care. Dr. Schieken personally calls each patient from the waiting room so that he can spend a moment greeting them and touching base with patients who have come for regular allergy shots. It's that personal connection that he learned a long time ago and has never forgotten.
Q: Why is it important to recognize exercise-induced asthma and why is it often misdiagnosed?
A: People who tend to be sedentary during winter months often attribute difficulty exercising in the spring to being out of shape. However, eathing discomfort associated with exercise may be due to asthma that is triggered by physical activity. Seasonal allergies can also exacerbate the condition. Both recreational and elite athletes may be affected. Proper diagnosis and treatment can ensure that all patients with exercise-induced asthma maintain healthy levels of activity. Elite athletes, because of their elevated baseline respiratory function, don’t always recognize symptoms until they are really compromised. Misinterpreting the symptoms can cause coaches and athletes alike to push harder, potentially endangering the athlete.
— Lawrence Schieken, MD, Comprehensive Asthma and Allergy Center
