Five Things Making Your Asthma Worse: Symptom Triggers
1. Allergens – Dust and dander from animal and pet fur not only accumulates on your floors, but also floats in the air. Check out your ceiling fans lately? The ever-sneaky dust mite is probably chewing on your dander as we speak. Ever notice how thick the pollen can be on your car? Not only are the trees blooming, but also the grass and flower spores are in bloom. Think how much of that material accumulates on your shoes, clothes and hair. Allergens also include cockroaches and other insects, rodents and their droppings, mold from inside and outside of the domicile.
2. Irritants – Americans spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Well, most of us, at least. We are all familiar with indoor irritants, the ones we shouldn’t have indoors but do, like cigarette, cigar or pipe smoking. But there are others that we don’t give a thought to until they enter our poor, frazzled lungs. A few of these self-induced irritants include strong perfumes, cleaning solutions, hair sprays, chemicals or dust in the workplace, compounds in home décor products, and chimneys or wood-burning stoves.
3. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD) – Seventy percent of asthma sufferers have GERD, which is the backing up, or reflux, of stomach acid through the esophagus. Weight loss may help control or cure GERD. Smaller meals, decreasing alcohol consumption and caffeine, and avoiding eating meals less than two hours before bedtime should help avoid GERD.
4. Upper respiratory infections like flus and colds – Asthma is more difficult to control with a runny nose, sinus infections or reflux disease.
5. Food allergies – Though only 2 percent of adults have food allergies, for instance to shellfish, peanuts or eggs, an anaphylactic shock or attack requires immediate asthma meds and medical attention to keep airways open. Another common food allergy is to sulfites used as a preservative in various foods such as canned foods, dried fruits, processed and preserved foods and wine, among others.