Learn the basics about asthma

To the editor,

While May is Asthma Awareness Month, the American Lung Association Mat-Su Office reminds all Valley residents that for more than 65,000 people in Alaska who live with asthma, awareness doesn’t end on the first of June.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that makes breathing difficult. With every breath, air passes through the nose, down the throat, into the lung and into branching tubes called airways. With asthma, those airways are often swollen and red, also known as inflamed. When an asthma trigger — anything from a change in temperature to dust, chemicals and smoke in the air — reaches those inflamed airways, extra mucus is created. The airways swell and muscles around the airways tighten, all making it even harder to breathe.

Asthma can start at any age, and those with asthma as a child can have their symptoms go away as their lungs develop, but there is a possibility that they will come back later in life. The exact cause of asthma is not known, though genetics, allergies, and environmental factors all factor into asthma development.

In honor of Asthma Awareness Month, the Lung Association encourages all Americans to increase their asthma awareness and knowledge by visiting Lung.org/AsthmaBasics. Asthma Basics is a free online learning course that covers asthma triggers and how to identify and reduce them, action plans when flare-ups do happen, how to respond to a breathing emergency, asthma medication tutorials, and an asthma management plan template. This self-paced learning tool is ideal for everyone from healthcare professionals and school nurses to parents, those suffering from asthma themselves and even co-workers and friends.

More asthma information and resources can be accessed by calling your local American Lung Association office at 357-3111 or through the Lung HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA.

Yours in Lung Health,

Ashley Peltier, MA

Lung Health Manager

American Lung Association in Alaska, Mat-Su Office