Things to look out for

Exercise
As many top athletes with asthma have proved, people with asthma can play and succeed in sport and exercise if their asthma is managed properly, however, strenuous physical exercise can also trigger an asthma attack if your asthma is not properly controlled. Because strenuous exercise involves breathing through the mouth, exercising in cold, dry air or taking part in prolonged, strenuous activities such as medium to long-distance running can increase the likelihood of exercise-induced asthma. Good aerobic fitness can help to reduce exercise-induced asthma. Team sports such as football, hockey, netball, basketball etc are often good activities for people with asthma to participate in, as they involve short bursts of activity rather than prolonged, sustained activity. When exercising, it can be useful to warm up and down. A 10 minute warm up period can be helpful. Useful exercises include 30 second sprints. Warming down after exercise is of benefit too. Asthma should not stop you doing exercise as long as you follow your doctor’s advice and make sure you keep your asthma controlled. You should be cautious of playing sports if your asthma is not well controlled or you have been suffering from asthma symptoms and there is:

• A high pollen count
• Low air temperature
• If you have a cold or infection

 

Food
Some people with asthma may notice a pattern between eating certain foods and increasing severity of their asthma. Some, but not all people with asthma are sensitive to milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish.

 

Infections
Viral infections such as colds can trigger asthma or make asthma worse. These infections can irritate the airways, nose, throat, lungs, and sinuses, and this added irritation often triggers asthma exacerbations. To avoid catching cold and flu it is important to eat a healthy diet and stay fit. It is recommended that elderly people with asthma have an annual flu vaccination to make sure that they do not catch flu which could be dangerous. All people with asthma should consider the flu vaccination. The flu vaccination can be given to children over 6 months. You should consider vaccinating your child if they suffer from asthma or another chronic condition. Ask your doctor for further details.

Irritants
People with asthma are sensitive to environmental irritants that can cause airways to swell, making it difficult to breathe. Below are listed a number of irritants that can make asthma worse. If these irritants affect your asthma, always make sure you have been taking your asthma medication if you are likely to come into contact with them:

• Smoke and fumes, such as tobacco smoke, wood smoke, chemicals in the air and ozone
• Strong odours or sprays such as perfumes, household cleaners, cooking fumes (especially from frying), paints or varnishes
• Other particles in the air such as coal dust, chalk dust or talcum powder
• Changing weather conditions, such as changes in temperature and humidity, barometric pressure or strong winds

 

Medications
When buying over the counter medicines, people with asthma should always ask a doctor or qualified pharmacist for advice and read the instructions carefully to make sure that the medicine is safe to take and will not trigger an asthma attack.
Some people with asthma may experience an asthma attack as a result of taking certain medicines. These can include painkillers such as aspirin or ibuprofen. People with asthma should also let their doctor know if they are asthmatic if they taking beta-blockers (used to treat heart disease, high blood pressure or migraine headaches).