If you’ve been sneezing and wheezing more than usual lately, you’re not alone.
The experts at St. Elizabeth talked to Local 12’s Liz Bonis this week about one of the chief complaints in Tri-State doctors’ offices right now.
During the segment, Danielle Brown, talked about her daughter’s struggles with allergies and asthma.
“[Mackenzie] gets a rash every time the wind blows,” she said. “[Most of the time] we just do over-the-counter stuff, unless it gets too bad.”
Dr. Sofia Qureshi says it’s a bad time of year for people with allergies and asthma.
“Allergies make it worse because asthma responds to environmental triggers,” said Dr. Qureshi.
Those environmental triggers can be a number of things, such as:
- pollen
- trees
- grass
- cockroaches
- dust mites
Qureshi urges patients to figure out what their triggers are. Those triggers allow you to prepare an “asthma action plan” and every asthma patient should be on this type of program.
You can find out about those triggers through a lab test, which could involve both blood and skin tests. Once you know them, doctors can help you manage them in the same way you would manage any other chronic illness such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
“You really have to stick to that guided therapy. If someone is moderate, they need to be on a daily medication on a regular basis so that they are not having those exacerbations,” said Dr. Qureshi.
Newer combination therapies help many with asthma.
“They are a combination of beta agonists and steroids, inhaled steroids,” said Dr. Qureshi.
And if allergies are part of the problem, allergy medications or other therapies also need to be part of the solution.
Click here to watch the segment with Liz Bonis.
