Breathe easy: Learn asthma facts
Most everyone knows what asthma is. Most everyone knows somebody who has it.
But, not everyone who has asthma knows they’re suffering from it, says Dr. Christopher Goodwin, a family practice doctor with Spokane Falls Family Clinic.
“There are still many individuals that have some degree of asthma that don’t recognize it,” Goodwin says. “They’ve just gotten used to compensating by being inactive and avoiding the triggers, so they’re always at less-than-optimum health.”
May is both Asthma Awareness Month and Clean Air Month.
On Saturday, some 400 walkers are expected to participate in the American Lung Association’s “Blow the Whistle on Asthma” 5K walk along the Centennial Trail. Organizers hope the walk will raise $50,000, which will go toward asthma research as well as sending local kids with asthma to summer camp.
Goodwin urges anyone with a constant, persistent cough or a cough triggered by swings in weather, laughing, emotional distress or exercise to see a doctor.
Many people with asthma also get used to suffering with a cough for months after a simple cold.
“If they find they’re changing their daily activities to become less active in order to accommodate any breathing problems they’re having,” they should see a doctor, Goodwin says.
“There’s such a huge potential for prevention in asthma,” he adds.
Asthma has an enormous impact on Washington, according to a report released recently by the Washington State Department of Health.
“About 400,000 Washington adults – one in 10 women and one in 14 men – currently have asthma.
“About 120,000 young people in the state have asthma.
“Washington has one of the highest rates of asthma in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“About 48,000 adults with asthma make at least one emergency-department visit a year.
“About 100 people die of asthma in Washington each year, and more than 5,000 are hospitalized.
“Asthma costs more than $400 million a year in medical expenditures and lost productivity.