ARE YOU AN ASTHMA SUFFERER?

Wayland McKenzie and Mary Andersen
Occupational Medicine, UMC

green line

June can be a bad month for rural people with sensitive lungs; there is both hay cutting and the grain dust of wheat harvest to cope with, not to mention the abundance of mid-summer flowers. How can you tell if you might have an asthma problem? First, ask yourself these questions:
  1. Has anybody in my family had asthma

  2. Did I have asthma as a child

  3. Do I ever get really short of breath while walking up a single flight of stairs or a slight hill

  4. Does my chest ever wheeze (make whistling sounds)

  5. Do I catch colds often

  6. When I get a cold, does it usually go to my chest

  7. Do I get coughing spells

  8. Does my chest ever feel tight

If you answered yes to questions 1 or 2, you have a higher risk for asthma, a hereditary disease that can occur or re-occur at any time during life. Although there is no clear-cut definition, asthma is a temporary overreaction of the airways, usually (but NOT always) an allergic reaction.

If you answered yes to any of questions 3-8, do the symptoms occur at a particular time, such as when certain plants are blooming, or when around animals, or during exercise or cold weather?

Having just one of these symptoms does not mean that you have asthma. However, if you have several symptoms, especially if they tend to occur together, you should see a doctor about it. Most general physicians can test for asthma. However, a pulmonary physician or an allergist can best treat this tricky disease.

An asthmatic must carefully watch the condition. Simple devices called peak flow meters can measure changes in lung function that are otherwise too subtle to notice. Asthma can either improve or worsen with time, sometimes with little outward sign. The asthma sufferer's medication needs to be adjusted periodically due to these changes, and due to the improvements in medications available. Many asthma sufferers stop taking their medicine because they feel it is a relatively unnecessary expense. They often don't realize that asthma left untreated can worsen, leading to permanent lung damage, and possibly to a life threatening attack. The good news is that sometimes the disease does improve, and specialists may be able to assist the recovery with desensitization treatments.

If you have asthma, the best advice physicians will give you is not to be passive about it. Seize the smoker-I mean the initiative-and don't let cigarettes, mold, pollen, and dust drive you crazy. You have to be more informed about your environment and your body than most other people, but this can be an advantage, if you so choose.

[ Occupational Medicine ] -- [ AgEBB ] -- [ Comments ]