Remember How Bush & Co. Totally Flailed on the EPA Smog Restrictions? Now They’re Being Sued
By the American Lung Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Defense Fund (among others), for not protecting public health.
Somewhat Related, Newsflash From Bush & Co: Global Warming Will Hurt Poor Folks
Just another example of the two terms-long [...]

Filed under: Air Quality, Asthma Triggers, EPA & FDA Fun | 1 person talking »

I’m headed to the Rocky Mountains in July, and let me tell you–that trip sure takes the sting out of the 100+ degree heat index I’ll be facing for the rest of the month when I get back, and then all the way through August here in the humidity capital of the U.S.
Actually, the girls [...]

Filed under: Air Quality, Asthma Triggers, My Asthma Girl & Me | 7 people talking »

Well.
My increasingly unreliable local Internet provider had problems all day long yesterday, and while I appreciate the way it gave me a four-day weekend instead of just three, I’m running way behind on work.
I do, however, still have weird links today.
This Dog Has a Pacemaker
Because I guess canines have cardiac problems and this aptly named [...]

Filed under: Weird Health | 3 people talking »

Enjoy your picnics and barbecues today. Summer sets in along the Gulf Coast well before Memorial Day, so I’m off to immerse myself in a large body of water, though not the beach because it is full of tourists and heavy traffic for the holiday.
I’ll see you all tomorrow.

Filed under: Holidays | Talk to me »

When I first started learning about asthma during my daughter’s worst years, I spent as much time trying to figure out the terminology of lungs and lung disorders as I did reading. Here are my variations of the definitions that helped me.
Allergen – substance causing an allergic reaction. An allergen is an antigen that, in [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized | Talk to me »

Scary New Asthma Commercials
Anyone seen these yet? I guess you could make a case for not freaking people out about what is usually a pretty treatable condition. On the other hand, with the dramatic rise in asthma cases unmatched by an equal increase in asthma education among parents and patients, scaring the snot out of [...]

Filed under: News & Research | 5 people talking »

I’m overly fond of statistics when it comes to asthma, partly because my own experiences with my kid don’t mean much outside the larger context. But in all the data I post, the numbers that catch my attention most are the ones on patient/parent asthma knowledge and uncontrolled asthma in children.
We all know education is [...]

Filed under: Lung Drugs, My Asthma Girl & Me | 7 people talking »

I was thinking about my two pregnancies this morning, and I’ll tell you why that’s relevant to this blog if you’ll bear with me for a paragraph or five.
First, there’s AG.
My pregnancy with her in 1998 was of the Oh, NO. I can’t be pregnant. Not PREGNANT variety. One month out of college, broke because [...]

Filed under: My Asthma Girl & Me, News & Research | 7 people talking »

All right, here’s the final installment of the glossary, basically the leftovers from the earlier sections. As always, you can read the whole Glossary in the tab above or check out individual subjects.
Asthma action plan – an individual step-by-step written plan for preventing and treating asthma flares. Asthma action plans use the patient’s peak flow [...]

Filed under: Asthma Glossaries | 2 people talking »

Singulair Helps Girls, Kids Exposed to Secondhand Smoke More
Okay, I know Singulair is a touchy subject right now. My own kid doesn’t take it because of several side effects, but this is good news for asthma patients who can tolerate it. National Jewish researchers have noted how well girls and children exposed to nicotine smoke [...]

Filed under: Lung Drugs, My Asthma Girl & Me, News & Research | 6 people talking »