With the weather beginning to warm up, I thought it would be interesting to see how swimming affects your asthma. Swimming is promoted as an exercise for people with asthma because you breathe in warm, moist air rather than the cold, dry air that may trigger asthma symptoms. Swimming can also help you develop good breathing practices.

Research, however, has indicated that some of the byproducts of chlorine can significantly contaminant the air around swimming pools. Not surprisingly, people using indoor pools seem to be more affected.

Take the quiz and let us know what you think.

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Art therapy provides a number of benefits for children with asthma.

According to a recent article published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology from the Department of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health, participation in a 60 minute art therapy program weekly for 7 weeks improved psychological attitudes, decreased anxiety and increased quality of life. There were, however, no differences in asthma exacerbations between the art therapy and the control group.

The authors concluded “this randomized, controlled study using art therapy with children with asthma provides encouraging initial data about how the emotional health of chronically ill children may be improved by using art therapy interventions.” They suggest that further studies are needed “to determine whether art therapy in conjunction with routine outpatient asthma medical care can help enhance patient and family self-management capacity and thereby reduce the frequency and severity of asthma exacerbations and the need for urgent care visits or hospitalization.”

What do you think- has your child participated in an art therapy program? Have you gotten any benefit from creating art? Leave a comment or go to the forum to join the discussion.

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When is the last time you discussed your asthma care plan with your doctor? If its been awhile you may want to consider as it is recommended you do so at least yearly. Take the poll and let us know.

Check Out These Old Polls- Vote If You Haven’t Done So and See What Others Think

• Do You Use Over The Counter Inhalers?
• Does Weather Affect Your Asthma?
• Is Your Doctor’s A Good Communicator?

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Severe asthma in childhood increases the risk of developing chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) according to an Australian study presented at the American Thoracic Society Conference in New Orleans.

Patients were followed regularly from age 7 to age 50 as part of the Melbourne Asthma Study. Severe childhood asthma increased risk of COPD by nearly 32 times compared to mild or no asthma. Mild asthma was not associated with an increased of COPD.

According to lead author Andrew Tai, MBBS, FRACP “there should be greater emphasis on the surveillance and treatment of children with asthma, therefore potentially preventing the development of adult obstructive lung disease.” He concluded “early treatment to prevent airway remodeling in childhood may reduce the incidence of this long-term complication of childhood asthma.”

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved bronchial thermoplasty (BT) for the treatment of severe asthma unresponsive to typical asthma medicines. BT is a unique, non-drug treatment that involves the use of thermal energy delivered to the airways of the lungs, which results in a decrease in the amount of airway smooth muscle. This therapy has been shown to improve asthma symptoms, reduce asthma exacerbations, reduce emergency room visits, and improve overall asthma control.

While there are various studies that show that BT is usual for the treatment of asthma, the jury is still out on where this therapy fits in the typical treatment of asthma, or how long the benefit may last. For now, typical asthma medicines are a much better way to treat asthma — but BT is worth a look for people with severe asthma for which typical medications don’t seem to help, and offers a unique approach for the treatment of asthma.

Learn more:

• Watch Bronchial Thermoplasty Animation
• Treatments for Severe Asthma
• Is Your Asthma Controlled?

Never Discount the Severity of an Asthma Exacerbation

Asthma exacerbations can be life threatening and can occur in anyone with mild to severe asthma. Only 33% of asthma deaths occur in the hospital which means many asthma patients who die are either not seeking care or are not being hospitalized with their worsening asthma. Patients at high risk of asthma related death require intensive education and special care. Make sure you know if you are in one of the increased risk groups discussed below.

Importantly, 80-85% who die from asthma develop progressive symptoms over anywhere from 12 hours to several weeks. Only 15 to 20% die in less than 6 hours after developing symptoms. Thus, the vast majority of patients dying from asthma developed symptoms in a time frame that would have allowed them to seek appropriate medical care.

Risk Factors for Asthma Related Death

All of the following are risk factors for asthma related death:

• Previous history of a near fatal asthma event
• Recent poorly controlled asthma with increased shortness of breath, nocturnal awakenings, and rescue inhaler use
• Prior severe asthma exacerbation where you were intubated or admitted to an intensive care unit.
• Two or more asthma related hospital admissions or three or more visits to the emergency room for asthma
• Using 2 or more canisters of your short acting bronchodilator like albuterol in a month
• If you have trouble identifying when your asthma symptoms are worsening or you are having an asthma attack
• Being poor and from the inner city
• Substance abuse
• Significant psychiatric disease
• Other significant medical problems like a heart attack and other lung diseases

What Do I Do if I am at Increased Risk?

All of the following may help you reduce your risk of an asthma related death:

• Know that you are at risk
• Know your asthma action plan
• Make sure you understand your asthma action plan
• Use your asthma action plan
• Use your peak flow meter regularly
• Do not delay seeking emergency care if your symptoms worsen
• Tell your asthma care provider that you are at increased risk of an asthma related death
• Make sure you can effectively communicate with an asthma care provider effectively

Have you ever had a near fatal asthma attack? Why not go to the forum and tell us about it what it was like and how you are preventing it from happening again.

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A recent study published in The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that skin cancers that occur on the face, occur more commonly on the left side.

This shows that people need to be aware of all the situations that expose them to the sun. This includes not only professional drivers but also people who commute regularly.

Do you feel like diet affects your asthma? Take the poll and then leave a comment or join the discussion in the forum and let us know what foods improve your diet and which ones have you reaching for the rescue inhaler.

Check Out These Old Polls- Vote If You Haven’t Done So and See What Others Think

• What Type Of Doctor Treats Your Asthma?
• Does Asthma Affect Your Sex Life?
• Does MSG Affect your Asthma?

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How compliant are you with your asthma medication regimen? Depending on where you look, noncompliance with asthma regimens ranges from 10-46%. According to Katie M Buston and Stuart F Wood of the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, patients commonly cite the following as reasons for non-compliance:

• forgetfulness
• belief that asthma medication is ineffective
• denial that one is an asthmatic
• difficulty using asthma inhalers
• inconvenience
• fear of medication side effects
• embarrassment and laziness

So how compliant are you? What makes it difficult for you to take your medication as prescribed? Is it one thing or a whole series of events? What do you do that helps you take your medications and get control of your asthma?

Leave a comment here or go to the forum to participate in the discussion.

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Thirty percent of Americans report that they suffer from food allergies, but according to a new report commissioned by the federal government, the true number hovers around eight percent for children and five percent for adults. That’s a lot of mistaken people.

The data comes from a review of 12,000 studies on food allergies published between 1988 and 2009. Of those, a measely 72 met the criteria of the new report, which included having a big enough sample size and using the right allergy tests.

“Everyone has a different definition” of a food allergy, Dr. Jennifer J. Schneider Chafen, who was the lead author of the new report, told the New York Times. And many of the tests used for diagnosis, especially the skin-prick test and the antibody test, are proving to be somewhat unreliable.

Many of the 30 percent who think they have a food allergy may in fact have an intolerance instead.  Allergies involve the immune system, while many food intolerances are caused by reactions in the digestive tract.