Not Everybody's Body Reads the Book

Medical textbooks have descriptions of classical ways that conditions and diseases present. Wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath are all attributes of asthma, but not all people with asthma experience these symptoms or recognize them as such.

Feelings of fatigue or lack of energy are relatively common (although not everyone with fatigue has asthma).

Often, people will limit what they do to avoid feeling out of breath. They don't describe this as "limitation of daily activities due to bronchospasm or uncontrolled asthma". They say: "I don't like to exercise." If asked why, they may explain: "I'm just not good at it...I get out of breath; I must be out of shape." Now it's true that being "out of shape" can cause such feelings as can many other medical conditions, but careful discussion , validated questionnaires (such as the Asthma Control Test) and objective lung function testing can help pick up asthma that may not have been suspected.

Why is diagnosing asthma important if the person experiencing it hadn't noticed anything wrong? Because people with asthma can suffer from decreased quality of life and health whether or not the asthma is recognized. Moreover, with recognition and proper management, these same people can (mostly) achieve a good quality of life with few or no limitations in activity and decreased risk of serious asthma attacks.

Happy World Asthma Day 2009!

May 5, 2009 is World Asthma Day and this year's theme is "you can control your asthma".  May is asthma awareness month.  

Many folks with asthma put up with symptoms and decreased quality of life--including avoiding activities. All too many folks with asthma miss school/work or spend time in ERs or hospitals. About 4000-5000 people die from asthma every year. This is tragic, especially since most of this is preventable.

As an allergist and asthma specialist, I see quite a disconnect between my daily experiences and the grim statistics.  Most of the patients I see do pretty well once we figure out the right treatment approach. They lead active lives including--for some--extreme athletic events; we adjust our approach as needed and occasionally there are office visits for flaring symptoms. ER visits and hospital stays are things we discuss and (mostly) avoid.

I recently received an email with some interesting statistics excerpted from ACAAI Asthma Management--Better Outcomes at Lower Costs  regarding asthma specialists' care including:

45% decrease in "sick care" office visits:

77% reduction is amount of work/school missed;

77% reduction in asthma hospitalizations;

Reduction in costs (77% for ER costs, 95% for inpatient costs--is anyone in Washington listening...).

As I've said and written on a number of occasions, it IS possible to lead a full, healthy active life with asthma and I hope that this month more people living with asthma are empowered to do so.