Asthma
Did you know Latinos are 60 percent more likely to visit the hospital for asthma? Don't be part of the statistics, help yourself and help your kids. Photo: Getty Images

Did you know ten people die each day from asthma? Sadly, Latinos are 60 percent more likely to visit the hospital for asthma compared to non-Hispanic whites. May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month and a perfect time to learn about these incurable diseases.

In an interview with Latin Times, Medical Director of Cigna Healthcare, Dr. Isaac Martinez, says asthma is a disease of the airways that can make it hard to breathe. "In certain people, their airways are more sensitive than normal, and simple everyday events can cause them to spasm and close down. While we aren’t certain of what the exact cause is, we do know that exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood increases the risk of developing asthma," explains Martinez. "Also, children with frequent respiratory infections in the first few years of life tend to have increased rates of asthma. Because breast feeding can strengthen a child’s immune system, they tend to have fewer respiratory infections and reduced rates of asthma later in life," he added.

Dr. Martinez said the hallmark symptom of asthma is difficulty breathing or a feeling of not being able to get air into the lungs. Unfortunately, this can be difficult for a young child to communicate and impossible for a baby who hasn’t learned to speak yet. "Parents may notice that their child may be out of breath or breathing faster than normal, or that they make whistling or rattling sounds when they breathe. This is typically called “wheezing” and can be heard by a healthcare professional during a lung exam as the child breathes," emphasizes Dr. Martinez. "Wheezing means that the airways are not as open as they should be and can be one of the first signs of asthma."

Latinos are more likely to report poor communication with their health provider. Cultural competence, the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients, needs to be prioritized to help Latino communities manage asthma as this condition continues to have a deadly impact on the community.

Luckily, programs have been created to specifically address asthma prevalence within certain minority communities, including the Healthy Kids Express – Asthma Program (HKEA) and Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic (LBUCC). Both programs were recently awarded grants from the Cigna Foundation to support their work of providing help to local minority residents who suffer from asthma.

Dr. Martinez also tells why and what is been done to support this community. "It is not well understood why Hispanics have a higher prevalence of asthma. Studies are being conducted currently to evaluate whether there may be genetic differences in their airways that predispose them to asthma more," he says. "What we do know is that Hispanics with asthma tend to be managed less effectively than other groups. This may represent disparities in access to healthcare or health insurance, lack of care coordination with a central healthcare provider, or simply lack of education about the disease in the Hispanic community."

Graduating Class
These youngsters now know all about their asthma; how to identify symptoms, asthma triggers, and even how to help manage their medications. Photo: Courtesy

The goal of asthma treatment is to help a person live a normal life where the disease doesn’t interfere in their everyday activities. For instance, if a child is constantly missing school because of breathing problems or not able to participate in activities like sports because they can’t keep up with the other children, then their asthma is not being well managed and controlled. In general, the two ways that we manage asthma are to look for environmental triggers and with medications:

  • For environmental triggers, we reduce exposure to situations that may cause a person to have breathing difficulties. These can be allergies to things like: dust, pollen, pet dander, and smoke. It is important to follow up with a doctor to see if allergy testing needs to be done to learn what you may be allergic to before making drastic changes. In other words, you wouldn’t want to rip up all the carpet in your house, get rid of all your pets, or move to a new location with less dust or pollen if allergy tests didn’t show you were allergic to those things. On the other hand, tobacco smoke is almost always an irritant to someone with asthma that can cause them to have difficulty breathing. If you have asthma and smoke, it is very important to stop. If your child has asthma, they should not be around anyone who smokes, even if they don’t smoke in the house or around the child.
  • What medications you are prescribed and how you use them depend on how severe your asthma symptoms are: Controller medications are substances that you use every day or on some other regularly scheduled basis regardless of whether you are having difficulty breathing or not. These medications help to keep your airways open, even when you are exposed to environmental triggers or when you get an infection. Exacerbation medications are substances that you use when you are having a difficult time breathing, or what some people refer to as an “asthma attack.” These substances work quickly to open up your airways and allow you to breathe normally again. There are a wide variety of medications used in the treatment of asthma that come in forms that you breath in (inhalers), swallow (pills or liquids), or are injected into your body by a healthcare professional.

When symptoms occur, Dr. Martinez says the best advice I he can give to parents is "to be prepared, and don’t panic. Sit down with your healthcare professional and develop an 'asthma action plan.' It is important to know what medications are prescribed to your child, how and when to use them, and when to schedule an appointment."

The doctos also suggest to keep a diary of symptoms, as well as a list of what is going on when those symptoms occur (what was the weather, were they playing, was anyone around them smoking, etc.) to bring back to your provider so that these medications can be increased or changed, if needed. All of these can be important clues to your provider that can help them prevent future asthma attacks.

Dr. Isaac Martinez said that he grew up with asthma as a child, but he was lucky enough to have very good healthcare providers that knew how to manage the disease. "I was very active, playing all sports including soccer, football, basketball, and track and field. I remain active to this day working out 7 days and I’ve never been hospitalized for asthma," he says. "Asthma is a serious disease, but if it’s well managed, it shouldn’t hold anyone back or be a negative in their life."

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