Asthma Awareness Month, How to Control Factors Leading to Asthma Attacks

I'm not easily frightened. I plant myself on the front of roller coasters every time I go to amusement parks. I sit through horror movies with a big grin on my face. I've been in a few fights in my younger years, which is nothing to brag about, and don't recall being scared. I've even been to a gun range to learn how to handle a weapon. While all of these things should've really scared me, they didn't. When I think back to my childhood, the only time I can ever remember being truly scared (more like terrified) was when my mother had an asthma attack in front of me. I had no idea what to do and was not prepared for her actions, but I hope to help some other people out by blogging about Asthma Awareness Month in May.

There are 16.4 million people with asthma including 7 million children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent studies from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report 13 million school days are missed due to asthma and one out of 10 children have asthma.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute reports that $20.7 billion is spent on asthma care. In a 2006 report from the CDC, 3,613 people died from asthma. While some asthma-related deaths are due to circumstances one cannot control, here are some tips to control asthma.

• Be weary of hair products and hair residue in beauty salons and around the home. For more info on hair sanitation, click here.
• If you are a smoker, try to quit. I know that's easier said than done, but cigarettes are brutal on the lungs. If you hang around someone who smokes, ask him or her to smoke outside or away from you until they are done. In 2005, Chicago passed a smoking ban in enclosed places like restaurants and bars, but to this day, some of this companies still get citations for breaking the law and letting customers smoke anyway.
• Dusting is not the most exciting chore in the world, but dust mites are so small that you don't really know they're there until you breathe them in. Dust rests in mattresses, carpet, furniture, windowsills, toys, basements and on home décor (ex. ceramics). Dust regularly, especially if you're living with a packrat.
• Make sure wet or damp surfaces are regularly cleaned, like kitchen counters, basement floors and around the refrigerator. The Environmental Protection Agency states that mold is most commonly found in the bathroom, kitchen and basement.
• Cockroaches and rodents (ex. mice) commonly leave urine, droppings, saliva and poisonous wastes around unsanitary homes. Exterminators may be expensive, but they are necessary. If you live in an apartment, check with your landlord to see if exterminators are covered. Nobody wants to live in a home of roaches and those no-boned, squishy gray mice, and you shouldn't have to. And if you are the one attracting the mice and roaches, don't be too ashamed to report it o your real estate company anyway. The other tenants shouldn't have to live in your filth.
• Brush your pet's fur to get the skin flakes, urine and saliva (from them bathing themselves) from their fur. The way they live is fine to them, but if you have (and want to keep) a house pet or your significant other has a house pet, make sure it's well groomed. Attend pet training sessions so the animal will go outside when it has to urinate or have a bowl movement. And if the pet does defecate in the house, make sure the cat litter or newspaper is always removed when used and fresh.
• Ask your real estate company or someone who knows about nitrogen dioxide (a reddish-brown odor gas), which comes from gas stoves, gas or oil furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, and unvented kerosene or gas space heaters.
• Keep brown paper bags handy in case the asthmatic person starts to hyperventilate. My mother could barely tell me what it was she needed after the asthma gun didn't work, but breathing in and out of that bag got her breathing back to normal.
• Always keep an asthma gun nearby, especially if you are physically active. Make sure to check with a doctor so you know what your body can and cannot handle in exercise.
• Get a cool rag and ice. If someone is having an asthma attack, she tends to go through what looks like hot flashes. My mother ripped off her shirt but minutes later wanted to be under her bedroom covers. If you really don't think an asthmatic person can handle the attack, call 911 immediately and be attentive until they get there.