Asthma

During an especially bad asthma attack my son was prescribed Prednisone and having some familiarity with it, we were hesitant about having it administered to our son.

The doctor explained to us that we had two options:

1. Allow the hospital to administer Prednisone

or

2. Allow our son to stop breathing.

Needless to say we allowed the hospital to administer the drug and it did help to control the attack but it was an extremely tense time.

Over the years we have found a number of things that have helped in our household to reduce the severity of the attacks. The following list is based on talks with asthma specialists and our family doctor. Some items may seem extreme but the choice is yours. Keep in mind the more you do at home the less likely you or a loved one will be spending time in the local hospital with an attack

1. Strong coffee can help to reduce or sometimes even stop an attack.

2. Allergy testing (usually the pin prick testing) can help to identify some Asthma triggers.

3. Pets are often triggers for asthma attacks. Do not keep pets in the house and definitely do not keep a pet in the bedroom of the asthmatic. The allergy testing will identify if a pet is a source of the problem

4. Strong chemical smells such as chlorine in hot tubs or fresh paint can be triggers

5. Exercise can trigger an attack. See your doctor for advice

6. Smoking is very harmful to the asthmatic. A whiff of second hand smoke can easily start an attack. Do not smoke in your home or car as the pollutants will linger long after they become invisible to the eye

7. Carpeting is a huge dust collector. Hardwood or linoleum is much easier to keep clean

8. Dust in the home is a very significant contributor to an Asthma attack

Clean your house as if it was a hospital. Wet dust your home regularly and have the asthmatic go somewhere else while dusting

The following is what I did in our son's room to make it safer for him. You can do the same

A. Remove ALL the stuffed animals, toys, ceiling mobiles, etc. from the room.

If it was washable --- Wash it. Do not put anything back in the room!

(If at all possible give away those things that can be parted with to a friend, relative or the local Salvation thrift store. The object here is to reduce DRASTICALLY the amount of "things" in the room that collect dust)

B. Remove ALL the old stuff that is filling the closet. (see above)

C. Remove the drapes, curtains or blinds (see above)

D. Wash the bed linen

E. If you are able, remove the bed from the room and vacuum the mattress and the frame. Purchase a plastic mattress cover

F. The clothes dresser next. Remove anything that no longer fits the child. If it is summer time pack all the winter clothes into heavy plastic bags and store in some other location, not in this room.

G. By this time the room should be practically empty. Now begin cleaning from top to bottom ceiling, walls, windows, and floor. I used Lysol All Purpose Cleaner and wet dusted all the surfaces

H. You have likely noticed an amazing amount of dust on your rags during all this work. Good work! It is surprising how much dust can be found on a seemingly clean surface.

I. Now you can begin returning items to the room. Start with the bed frame and mattress that you have vacuumed, cleaned and covered with a plastic mattress cover

J. How old is the pillow. In our case we replaced the pillow every three months to reduce dust mite populations. On doctors orders.

K. The dresser. Cleaned and wiped down inside and out. All clothing freshly washed

L. Keep in mind the end result will be a very spartan looking room. Keep what is truly needed only. Even a picture on the wall will collect dust

M. The child will want all those old toys and stuffed animals back in their room. You need to keep the room from returning to its dusty state. We used a variety of ways to reduce the number of things being returned to clutter up the room. One was asking the child to pick their most favorite and their least favorite stuffed animal .The least favorite was given away or put into "storage" elsewhere. The most favorite was allowed back in the room but was vacuumed from then on every other day. The end result you want to achieve is that drastic reduction of things that collect dust. Do everything you can to resist the temptation to put all that stuff back in the room. We used a bookcase instead of a toy box. The toy box collects dust that you don't notice, the bookcase was easier to dust.

N. You now have a safe room. A place where you can go should you feel an attack coming on. A place that you know is clean and will not aggravate the attack. It may not be a fun room but it is a necessary room. You must KEEP the room in this condition but believe me it is much easier when it is emptier. A few toys can keep the child happy, all of them may make the child sick

O. Look at the rest of the house and what do you see?

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According to the United States EPA website:

"Americans spend up to 90% of their time indoors."
Therefore, indoor allergens and irritants can play a significant role in triggering asthma and allergy attacks.

Asthma is a disease of the respiratory systems in which the airways constrict,become inflamed, and are lined with excessive amounts of mucus, often in response to one or more "triggers," such as exposure to an environmental stimulant (or allergen), cold air, exercise, or emotional stress. In children, the most common triggers are viral illnesses such as those that cause the common cold. This airway narrowing causes symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which respond to bronchodilators. Betwee episodes, most patients feel fine. The disorder is a chronic or recurring inflammatory condition in which the airways develop increased responsiveness to various stimuli, characterized by bronchial hyper-responsiveness, inflammation, increased mucus production, and intermittent airway obstruction. The symptoms of asthma, which can range from mild to life threatening, can usually be controlled with a combination of drugs and lifestyle changes.

Public attention in the developed world has recently focused on asthma because of its rapidly increasing prevalence, affecting up to one in four urban children, Susceptibility to asthma can be explained in part by genetic factors, but no clear pattern of inheritance has been found. Asthma is a complex disease that is influenced by multiple genetic, developmental and environmental factors, which interact to produce the overall condition.

Dust mite allergy is one of the most common allergies that Americans suffer from. It is estimated that 80-90% of those suffering from allergies are also allergic to dust mites. Some of the most common symptoms are stuffy nose, runny nose, teary eyes, dry cough, and even aches and headaches.

Dust mites shown on standard

bed sheet fabric.

Signs and symptoms

In some individuals asthma is characterized by chronic respiratory impairment. In others it is an intermittent illness marked by episodic symptoms that may result from a number of triggering events, including upper respiratory infection, airborne allergens, and exercise.

An acute exacerbation of asthma is referred to as an asthma attack. The clinical hallmarks of an attack are shortness of breath (dyspnea) and wheezing. Although the latter is "often regarded as the sine qua non of asthma," some victims present primarily with coughing, and in the late stages of an attack, air motion may be so impaired that no wheezing may be heard. When present the cough may sometimes produce clear sputum. The onset may be sudden, with a sense of constriction in the chest, breathing becomes difficult, and wheezing occurs (primarily upon expiration, but can be in both respiratory phases). Signs of an asthmatic episode are wheezing, rapid breathing, prolonged expiration, a rapid heart rate, rhonchous lung sounds (audible through a stethoscope), and over-inflation of the chest. During a serious asthma attack, the accessory muscles of respiration (sternocleidomastoid and scalene muscles of the neck) may be used, shown as in-drawing of tissues between the ribs and above the sternum and clavicles, and the presence of a paradoxical pulse (a pulse that is weaker during inhalation and stronger during exhalation). During very severe attacks, an asthma sufferer can turn blue from lack of oxygen, and can experience chest pain or even loss of consciousness. Severe asthma attacks may lead to respiratory arrest and death. Despite the severity of symptoms during an asthmatic episode, between attacks an asthmatic may show few signs of the disease.