Is Asthma Affecting Your Quality of Life?

Sometimes people with asthma are not aware that they have asthma. If you experience symptoms of wheeze, cough, shortness of breath or chest tightness with exercise or vigorous activity, smoke exposure, strong odors, weather changes and in other situations, you might have asthma. The diagnosis of asthma can be made by your doctor with the help of some simple testing.

To know whether your quality of life is being affected, you need to know what should be expected of asthma. People with asthma should be able to fully participate in physical activities, have uninterrupted sleep, and avoid emergency room visits and hospitalizations. In addition, people with asthma should be on the fewest medications that control asthma with a minimum of medication side effects.

Enjoying physical activities
You should be able to enjoy walking, sports and other physical activities without limitation from your asthma. If you experience wheezing, shortness of breath or chest tightness with vigorous activity, you may want to use your rescue inhaler 15-30 minutes prior to exercise. If you are not able to exercise without difficulty, you may need a change in your medications.

Certain activities that may not be the best for people with asthma include;

• snow skiing
• ice skating
• running in cold weather

While the following are low impact activities and are better for your asthma;

• swimming
• riding an exercise bike
• using a treadmill

Quality of life
Asthma may indirectly affect your quality of life if you are having side effects from your medications. There are numerous medicines which are generally safe and help keep asthma controlled. Inhaled steroids are often prescribe and are effective. It is important to take the proper dosage. If you think your asthma medicines may be affecting your quality of life, discuss these concerns with your physician.

With the help of your physician and the treatments currently available, asthma should not adversely affect your quality of life. Allergist/immunologists can also help optimize your asthma. If you would like more information or would like to locate an allergist/immunologist near you, please visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, www.aaaai.org.

This feature was edited by Stuart A. Friedman, MD, FAAAAI, AAAAI Patients & Consumers Web Editor on 3/18/04.