Imagine waking up in the middle of the night coughing and wheezing, having a tight chest and not being able to breathe.
These are some of the daily problems of someone living with asthma. Asthma is one of the most common lifelong chronic diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 25.5 million Americans are living with asthma.
It’s important to stay informed about the triggers and treatment of asthma.
In Indiana approximately 472,000 adults and 151,000 children have asthma. According to the Indiana Department of Education, emergency room visits due to asthma attacks were the No. 1 cause of absences at school. In 2012 there were 30,570 asthma related emergency room visits, which was a 3 percent increase from 2011 with 7,707 hospitalizations and 73 deaths.
“Asthma is not just a childhood disease; it affects many Hoosier adults too,” said State Health Commissioner William VanNess. The Indiana State Department of Health works closely with the Indiana Chapter of the American Lung Association and the Indiana Joint Asthma Coalition to help raise awareness and inform people that even though asthma can be serious, it can be controlled with proper medication and medical attention.
“With allergy season it’s especially important for those with asthma to regularly take allergy medication, whether it’s over the counter or prescription,” said Jamie Lee, the asthma and chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease coordinator at Eskenazi Health Outpatient Center.
Some common allergens that set off asthma are outdoor allergens such as ragweed, pollen and cottonwood.
“Parents have said their child has had problems just by sitting outside on the grass,” added Lee.
When children are first born they aren’t initially diagnosed with asthma.
“A child can’t be diagnosed with having asthma until the age of 2. Before that they are either diagnosed with having a cold or having small airways. Before being diagnosed with asthma, doctors look at several different factors such as family history or if the child has eczema,” said Lee.
She adds that if sufferers weren’t diagnosed with asthma as a child they could very well grow into it as an adult. Adults may have had symptoms but never had a problem with it until later on in life.
Asthma is triggered by different things for different people. Once sufferers figure out what that particular allergen is, they can control it. Experts say you can’t grow out of asthma, rather just reduce inflammation.
“Once one has been diagnosed with asthma, one will always have it,” said Lee.
