Buy backpacks, exercise machines, athletic shoes, and more at Fogdog Sports. This chronic disease can be set off by the pollen blowing around the yard, the dust that settles in the corners of your house, even the food that you consume. A Lifetime Strategy, by physician Betty B. Wray. Wray, a former president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, has written this book to help the rising number of patients diagnosed with asthma control their symptoms and lead essentially normal lives. It s a welcome book, because asthma can be a scary disease.
People say that an asthma attack feels a lot like trying to breathe through a straw.
During the attack, the muscles that surround the breathing tubes in the lung tighten, keeping air from getting in and out of the lungs. In addition, there s been an alarming increase in severe and fatal cases of asthma, federal health officials report. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, asthma is responsible for over 1.8 million emergency room visits, over 460,000 hospitalizations, and more than 5,000 deaths each year. Between 1980 and 1996, the number of people who suffer from asthma has doubled to almost 15 million. Children under 5 are especially vulnerable.