A study published last week in the Journal of Asthma indicates that type of insurance you have may be related to whether or not you or your child receives controller medications for your asthma. Children insured by Medicaid were less likely to receive controller medications than those with private insurance for their asthma.

What do you think? You think your insurance affects a sort of medication your doctor prescribes you? Take or weekly poll and leave a comment or go to the forums and join the discussion.

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Increasingly patients report the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in the management of asthma. What do you know about the different CAM therapies and how helpful they are?

• Is Alternative Asthma Treatment Effective And Safe
• What Is Complementary and Alternative Medicine?
• Why did you consider an alternative asthma treatment?
• Does Acupuncture Help Ease Asthma?
• Asthma Herbal Medicine: Treating Asthma With Herbs

What do you think about CAM? Have you ever tried CAM for your asthma? Leave a comment here or in the forum discussion to let us know.

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More and more people are seeking alternative therapies as a solution for their allergies. Whether going to the acupuncturist, chiropractor, herbalist, or naturopath, it seems that just about everyone is trying to get away from traditional medicine for the care of chronic medical problems, especially allergies. But do these therapies really work for the treatment of allergies? Sure, a friend might tell you how much better they feel, but how much of this is the power of suggestion, versus a proven benefit? Share your story if you’ve found acupuncture or other alternative therapy to be helpful for the treatment of your allergies.

Read more:

• Alternative Therapies for Allergies and Asthma
• Acupuncture for Allergies
• Eating Local Honey For Allergies

Cold and flu season is nearly upon us again, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now urging all people (older than 6 months of age) to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza virus. Protection against the seasonal flu virus is particularly important for the very young, the very old, and those people with chronic medical problems such as diabetes and asthma. However, since the influenza vaccine (including the seasonal injection, the seasonal nasal spray version, and the injectable H1N1 pandemic version) is made in eggs, those with severe egg allergy should not receive it. However, a recent study showed that most people with egg allergy could safely receive the H1N1 flu vaccine, although this procedure should be performed only under the direct supervision of an experienced allergist skilled in the administration of vaccines to people with food allergies.

Read more:

Vaccines and Food Allergy

Egg Allergy and Influenza Vaccine

Egg Allergy and MMR Vaccine

How often does your care get affected because your doctor no longer takes your health insurance? What happens? Will your doctor still call in your scripts? Do you have to find a new doctor? Do you think this has affected your care? Take the poll and leave a comment or join the discussion in the forum.

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According to a news article I found online, a 42 year old asthmatic died after inhaling poppers. While not totally clear if the poppers caused the man’s asthma attack as the drug could not be identified, an autopsy revealed an asthma attack had occurred.

Poppers is a slang term for the chemical amyl nitrite. Commonly used in the ‘club scene’ of the 70′s, disco in the 80′s and raves’s of the 90′s, many people take them due to the rush and dizzy like feeling they give when inhaled. They are also purported to improve sex and enhance sexual pleasure.

It is important to realize that while less addictive then some other drugs, inhalants do have potential side effects and can cause damage. Importantly to those with asthma, any sort of inhaled substance could potentially trigger your asthma and you should talk with your doctor before inhaling anything other than your prescribed medication.

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According to a study released last week in the Journal of Asthma, patients want their pharmacist more involved in their asthma care.

According to the study, patients said they:

• Basic information about asthma and medications
• Lung function testing information
• How to best monitor their asthma
• Instruction/ demonstration/ correction of inhaler technique

Patients stated they would be more loyal to pharmacies providing these services and would participate in care delivered by pharmacies, but interestingly they were not asked if they would be willing to pay more for these services. What do you think about your pharmacy? Would you like more asthma services delivered there? Do you have any concerns? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

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You have probably started hearing people talk about flu vaccines. In my community they are beginning to arrive and people are starting to get vaccinated. Getting the vaccine is important part of preventing complications and missing days of school and work. Check out these important flu articles.

• Do I Need the Flu Shot If I Have Asthma
• Why Getting a Flu Shot May Improve Your Health
• Am I at High Risk I I Get the Flu?
• Got Asthma? Three Key Steps To Prevent Flu

What do your think about the flu vaccine? Will you get vaccinated this year? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Asthma attacks occur at the most inopportune times!! The Asthma Mom posts about an asthma attack that occurred while filming a hoaxed sex scene in her new movie ‘Easy A’.

Emma apparently did not know that she had asthma. While Emma’s asthma attack was brought on by a fake sex scene, asthma can affect your real sex life.

Read more about asthma and sex.

• Sexercise Induced Asthma
• Asthma & Your Sex Life
• Does Asthma Affect Your Sex Life?

An Epi-Pen is prescribed as emergency treatment for severe food allergies that include anaphylactic shock as a symptom. Epi-Pen is actually a brand name, like Kleenex. There is now a generic epinephrine auto-injector on the market.

The good news is that generic drugs are less expensive, which is particularly good for people without insurance. Epi-Pens are not cheap, and you need to replace them every year.

The bad news is that the generic auto-injector is different from either of the most commonly prescribed brand names, Epi-Pen and Twinject. Your doctor may have prescribed one of these brand name injectors to you and trained you how to use it. Your pharmacy (or rather, your insurance company) may give you the generic injector instead.

Check your injector to see what brand it is, and then look up the instructions for its use. Ask your doctor to prescribe a “trainer” pen – a fake pen used for educational purposes – with each new prescription.

Having a trainer pen is especially important if you have a child with food allergies who has multiple caregivers – babysitters, grandparents, teachers, and the parents of his friends. Everyone who takes care of your child should be trained how to use his injector.

Instructions for each type of injector:

Adrenaclick (makers of the generic injector, distributed by Greenstone)

Epi-Pen

Twinject

More About Anaphylaxis and Epinephrine:

First Aid for? Anaphylaxis

How to Use an Epi-Pen

Anaphylaxis

Epinephrine Auto-Injector

_Source:

_{American Academy of Pediatrics. Availability of Generic Epinephrine Auto‑Injector. Accessed June 23, 2010. http://www.aap.org/sections/allergy/new.cfm#new}