Exercising Despite Allergies and Asthma

Exercise usually is a good idea, even for people with allergies or asthma, and as long as the doctor approves.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology offers this advice for people who exercise, despite having allergies or asthma:

• Take any medication prescribed by your doctor before exercising.
• People who are allergic to dust may prefer outdoor exercise.
• People with seasonal allergies may want to exercise indoors during allergy season.
• Avoid exercising near chemicals or irritants in the air, such as places with heavy automobile traffic.

Wrong heating can trigger asthma, warns Asthma Foundation SA

ASTHMA sufferers should carefully consider home heating options in winter because it can have a dramatic impact on their health, the Asthma Foundation SA warns.

The foundation says winter’s dip in temperature can trigger asthma because the colder temperatures affect sensitive airways, while heating to ward off the condition could also trigger attacks among the one in 10 Australians who have the condition.

Foundation health services manager Simon Clark said heating choices impacted on asthma because some types such as wood fires and unflued gas heaters emitted more air pollution. “We urge people with asthma to consider their triggers and individual experiences when it comes to heating in their homes,” Mr Clark said. He said a survey showed just a third of Australians make the link between heating choices and health. “We express some caution around wood or combustion fires and if a gas heater is not ventilated of flued,” he said.

New unflued gas heaters were banned from installation in schools in SA in 1983. In 2004 a Flinders University study found a reduction in asthma attacks was associated with lower levels of nitrogen dioxide, a known air passage irritant, in classrooms without unflued gas heaters. Mr Clark said most asthma-related deaths also occur during Australia’s winter months. “We emphasise the importance of maintaining a constant room temperature over the winter months,” he said. Mother of two Kim Copperstone is extra careful with heating her home during winter because her eldest daughter, Taleigha, 5, has severe asthma brought on by the cooler air. “Every Easter we almost always end up straight into hospital,” she said. She said Taleigha could not play outside too much in winter and keeps her warm with ducted gas heating inside. “There is no scarier moment that watching my daughter struggle for breath … gasping and wheezing.” Her other biggest fear is heights. Ms Copperstone and her sister Nicole Homann will take on that fear in October when they will skydive to raise money for the foundation.

For more information, or to donate, visit everydayhero.com.au/event/takingtheleap .

Anyone seeking more information about asthma and heating options should contact the SA Asthma Foundation on 1800 278 462.

Genetic tests providing asthma answers

RESEARCHERS say genetic testing may help predict which children suffering from asthma will grow out of the condition.

No tests currently exist which can forecast which sufferers will be stuck with the symptoms all of their lives and which will recover as they age, but research from the University of Otago indicates genetic testing will help identify those who will have lifelong asthma.

Analysing data from the long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a team of Otago and Duke University researchers found those with childhood asthma and higher genetic risk scores for being predisposed to it were more than one-third more likely to develop asthma long-term.

The findings, published online in the UK journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, looked at data from about 1000 children born in 1972-73.

The study investigated whether several genetic variants, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms and which carry a small increased risk of asthma, were related to the onset, persistence and severity of the condition.

It found that boys and girls with higher risk scores had a greater likelihood of developing asthma over the 38 years of follow-up than those with a lower genetic risk.

“Although our study revealed that genetic risks can help to predict which childhood-onset asthma cases remit and which become life-course-persistent, genetic risk prediction for asthma is still in its infancy,” said lead author Daniel Belsky from Duke University.