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Finding the Triggers for Asthma
November 3, 2009 |
More and more people are being diagnosed with it every day: asthma.
“In the United States, there’s been a 75% increase in asthma in the past several
years. There are 1.8 million visits annually to the emergency room,” says Teresa
Summe, Coordinator for the Asthma Health Management Program.
And it’s not just kids; adult on-set asthma is also on the rise. “It could be a
couple of reasons. One environmental, the other, they are being diagnosed earlier,”
suggests Susan Torres, RN, MSN.
While researchers try to figure out what is triggering these increased cases, Lee
Memorial Health System is doing its part to help people deal with a diagnosis through
the Asthma Health Management Program. This is the only accredited program in the
state. “It’s a program designed to be able to educate those who have asthma. To
be able to teach them the correct monitor and be able to treat their asthma,” explains Director, Alan Cunningham.
Patients meet with trained professionals once a month and develop an “asthma action
plan.” They monitor their own symptoms through a series of colors, similar to a
traffic light. “The green light is you have no symptoms. The yellow light is when
there are triggers. They come into contact with something they know is a trigger
for an asthma attack, so they may go to another level of medication. The red light
is when they are in full blown attack, and there’s another level of medications
or they need to seek emergent care,” says Torres.
The patient’s doctor, along with nurses, respiratory therapists, even case workers,
monitor the patient’s progress. The program lasts about 6 months.
For more information, log on to leememorial.org. |
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