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Health: In Shape

TROUBLED AIRWAYS Allergies and asthma strike 1-in-4 Americans By Amy BentleyPublished: January, 2006

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Editor’s Note: Asthma and allergies strike a stunning number of children and affect families in numerous ways. The topic is OC Family Magazine’s editorial initiative for 2006. Following this opening report, the series will continue to appear in our Health section. To access our former editorial initiatives All About Breastfeeding (2005) and Defy Diabetes (2004)  When Travis Olson was 2 years old, the toddler from Temecula developed a chronic dry cough that just wouldn’t go away. Every now and then, Travis would also wheeze, but he didn’t seem otherwise sick.  “I couldn’t take him to places like Gymboree because all these moms were looking at me; he coughed like a 90-year-old emphysema patient,” says Travis’s mom, Patty Olson.  The family pediatrician said Travis had asthma or allergies, but a series of skin tests for allergies to more than 50 substances such as mold, dust mites and weeds turned up negative. Blood tests for food and other allergies, as well as for cystic fibrosis and immune system disorders, also were negative.  Patty Olson was sure that her son, now a healthy 5-year-old kindergartener, was allergic to something that his doctors couldn’t determine. So she took matters into her own hands. She cut way down on milk and wheat products for Travis, replaced the carpet in his room with laminate wood flooring, bought him hypo-allergenic bedding and pillows, and put an air purifier in the house. After awhile, Travis improved.  Despite the negative tests, allergies or asthma remained the diagnosis, especially in light of the fact that Travis’s mom also is allergic to cats, dust mites, mold, “tons of stuff,” she says. It makes sense. If one parent has allergies, the chances are 1-in-3 that each child will have allergies. If both parents have allergies, the chances are 7-in-10 that their children will have them too, according to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America.  The Olsons are far from alone in their suffering or quest for a diagnosis and treatment. Allergies and asthma are among the country’s most common, and often overlooked, chronic illnesses, especially among children. The big hit  Asthma and allergies strike 1-in-4 Americans, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. Asthma is the most common chronic disorder in childhood, affecting an estimated 6.2 million children under 18, according to the American Lung Association. Allergies are the third most common illness among children under 18. The two are related; approximately 75-80% of children with asthma have significant allergies.  In Orange County, approximately 66,000 children have asthma, according to the American Lung Association of Orange County. In San Bernardino and Riverside counties, almost 89,000 children have it. Children with allergies or asthma frequently miss school and spend a lot of time seeing doctors. But experts say both illnesses can be managed with education and good medical care, allowing children to lead normal lives.  “Parents just need to be aware of the triggers that can cause allergies and asthma and look at special diets, as well as work with school nurses,” says Glenn Maddalon, executive director of the American Lung Association of Orange County. Definitions  An allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to a foreign substance called an allergen that is breathed into the lungs, eaten, injected or touched. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, wheezing, a runny nose, and itching, and allergies can trigger asthma attacks.  Common allergens include trees, grasses, weeds, dust mites, dog and cat dander, foods, and drugs. In Orange County and the surrounding areas, ragweed is the biggest allergen in August and September, trees are the biggest allergen between March and June, and grasses dominate from May to August, Maddalon says.  Asthma is a disease in which the airways become inflamed or blocked in response to some stimuli, causing breathing trouble and other symptoms. It is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under 15 and the leading cause of school absenteeism, according to the American Lung Association.  “Smog is a really big trigger for asthma,” says Terry Roberts, an asthma educator for the American Lung Association’s Inland Counties chapter, based in San Bernardino  the U.S. county with the worst air pollution, according to the association.  In the Lung Association’s State of the Air 2005 Report, which assessed air pollution data between 2000 and 2003, the counties of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego all received an “F” grade. San Bernardino was named the county with the worst air pollution, Riverside County ranked fourth, and San Diego County ranked 12th.  Another study found that Orange County is the ninth worst area in the U.S. for long-term air pollution, adds Maddalon.  Amy Bentley of Temecula is a regular contributor.

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