By Margret Schnitzer, Manager, Community Asthma Program

May is Asthma Awareness Month – so let’s talk about asthma.   While a cure for asthma has not yet been found, it can be controlled!

Asthma is a chronic disease that causes the airways in your lungs to narrow, make more mucus than usual, and swell, which makes it harder to breathe.  If you know someone with asthma, you know that sometimes they cough, wheeze, and are short of breath. All of these asthma symptoms can be pretty scary.  Imagine trying to breathe through a straw – it’s hard to get enough air into your lungs.  That’s what asthma can feel like.

Some people with asthma are almost never bothered by it, but some people are greatly affected by their asthma, to the point where it interferes with daily living.  Baltimore children bear more than their ‘fair share” of the burden of asthma.  For too many children in the city, asthma causes them to end up in an emergency room, fighting for air.  Youth in Baltimore City are seen in an emergency department for asthma almost three times more than children across Maryland.  Asthma-related hospitalization rates in Baltimore show similar disparities, with a rate approximately twice as high as the statewide average for Maryland children.

Within Baltimore City, the burden of asthma is also unequal.  Children in zip code 21229 on the west side have the highest rates of asthma-related emergency department visits than any other zip code in the city.  The adjoining zip code, 21223, has the second highest pediatric asthma-related emergency department utilization rate.

One of the interventions that the Baltimore City Health Department has in place in an effort to reduce asthma is the Community Asthma Program (CAP), which provides a three-home visit intervention for children who have asthma.  CAP sees approximately 200 children each year.

Services through CAP include both clinical and environmental asthma management via in-home education and an environmental assessment by trained community health workers, and the provision of supplies geared towards reducing triggers.  Staff also refers families to other services for city residents including smoking cessation, weatherization, structural repairs through the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), and mental health services.

BCHD also hosts and co-chairs the Greater Baltimore Asthma Alliance, whose mission is to reduce the burden of asthma on residents in the Greater Baltimore area.  GBAA is focusing current efforts on understanding what providers and other stakeholders need in order to better manage asthma.

So how do you get asthma?  No one knows for sure, but it’s most likely a combination of genetics (it tends to run in families) and environmental factors.  Asthma symptoms can be triggered by many things we encounter every day.  This includes:

• Cigarette smoke
• Animals with fur or feathers
• Cockroaches
• Mice
• Mold
• Dust mites in carpets, beds, pillows
• Strong fumes like car exhaust, perfumes, and  cleaning products
• Sprays like air fresheners and bug spray
• Pollen from trees, flowers, grass or weeds
• Cold air
• Colds or other infections
• Pollution
• Strong emotions like anger, stress, or even laughter!

Everyone’s asthma triggers are different, and they can change over time.  This can make it complicated to control asthma.

If you have asthma, what can you do to be sure its controlled?

• Talk to your medical provider and ask for an Asthma Action Plan, to be sure you are taking your medicine as prescribed.
• Know the early signs of worsening asthma so you can take your medicine or contact your doctor and prevent a serious attack
• Know what your triggers are and stay away from them.
• Finally, know what your symptoms are and be sure you treat them before they get worse.

Asthma accounts for the greatest loss of productivity either through missed work days or school absenteeism. Nationally, it is estimated that 10 million work days and almost 14 million school days are missed each year due to asthma.

Do YOU need help managing your child’s asthma?  Call our Community Asthma Program at 410-396-3848, or visit our website.