THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9607310190
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
JOSIE ROSE of Windsor credits an Obici Hospital class for families with asthma with enabling her teenage daughter to better understand and control her asthma.
The class, ABC's of Asthma, will be offered again next Tuesday at Obici Hospital. The free, one-night session will cover accepting asthma, the basics of asthma and controlling it, including the use of medications, inhalers and peak flow meters. A peak flow meter is a simple tool that measures the openness of large airways in the lungs.
Children (kindergarten age and older) will attend a class especially designed for them while parents are in their own class, then join together for a wrapup session.
Rose first suspected that her daughter might be asthmatic three years ago, when Judith would wake up wheezing in the mornings.
Doctors confirmed Rose's hunch and placed Judith on a combination of medications to control the condition. ``But like most teenagers, she thinks she is invincible and does not want to be different,'' Rose said.
After the mother and daughter attended the spring class together, Rose was pleased to note that Judith seemed more conscientious about her medications. ``I wanted her to know more about it because, unlike younger children, teenagers really need to take care of themselves,'' Rose said.
``Hers is not a severe case, and, as long as she takes care of herself, it doesn't trouble her too much.''
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that can be controlled, but not cured. Airway linings become inflamed and swollen, narrowing and blocking the flow of air so that breathing becomes difficult. Because some medications relax the airways and others reduce or prevent the swelling, more than one medicine often is used to treat the condition.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the incidence of asthma has increased over the last 20 years. Local allergist Dr. John Sweeney thinks the increase is due to improved diagnostic techniques as well as an increase in the disease itself.
Years ago, Sweeney said, what we now recognize as asthma was then labeled chronic bronchitis or a chronic cough. ``In the last seven to eight years, we have seen an enhanced awareness of asthma among medical professionals and the general public,'' he said.
Sweeney will be among several speakers, including a pharmacist and a respiratory therapist, at the ABC's of Asthma education program.
``Asthma is a very common problem that is almost always controllable if parents, patients, and physicians communicate and work together for proper management of the condition,'' Sweeney said.
Controlling asthma rather than letting asthma control your life is the core of Sweeney's message. The keys to asthma management, he said, are appropriate therapy and medication and proper monitoring to assure that the asthma is controlled. ILLUSTRATION: SYMPTOMS
The main symptoms of asthma are:
Shortness of breath
Wheezing
Tightness in the chest
Cough lasting more than a week
Not all people with asthma wheeze. For some, coughing, usually at
night or after exercise, may be the only symptom.
AT A GLANCE
What: The ABC's of Asthma
When: Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Sandwiches served at 5:30
Where: Obici Hospital Learning Resource Center (third floor)
Registration: By Friday, Aug. 2. Call Obici Hospital Educational
Services, 934-4720 by CNB