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Informative Articles

"Dieting" Toture By Another Name, It Doesn't Need To Be That Way
I have tried many “diets” here in the USA and in England and to me they all felt like self inflicted torture. They were boring, tasteless, and restrictive. Like many of you I work hard, I don’t ask for much in the way of pleasures when I get home...

No Fuss Weight-Loss
To lose weight and keep it off you need an easy to follow no fuss plan. You need a plan that is simple and sensible. You need a plan that you can use everyday to get slim and healthy. You need a plan that builds on your success day-by-day. A...

PREVENTION --- IT'S UP TO YOU, NOT YOUR DOCTOR!
Copyright 2005 Judy Thompson Throughout most of my life, I have heard that “You are what you eat!” Then later, as I became more knowledgeable about nutrition, it became “You are what you eat, digest, and absorb!” Our world is changing daily. ...

The Evil of Carbohydrates?
(May be reprinted freely if linked to www.ExerciseCertification.com) In recent years, carbohydrates have been labeled as the nutrition ‘bad guy’ because of the increases in insulin that occurs during metabolic processes. The secretion of insulin is...

Weight to Height Charts for Men and Women
Frame size In order to determine if you are overweight, underweight or just right, you will first need to know your frame size. Frame sizes come in three different categories: small, medium, and large. To determine your frame size: Measure...

 
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Asthma Education is Critical for Community Health

One of the keys to effective asthma treatment is asthma education - not just for the patient but for everyone involved in his or her life. Rather than treating asthma like a string of isolated asthma attacks, doctors are now treating asthma as a chronic condition that is affected by nearly every aspect of the patient's life. Instead of focusing on acute care intervention, doctors now focus on daily management, medication and monitoring to help minimize symptoms of asthma and lessen the severity of asthma attacks when they do happen.

Asthma education is a key part of that management. By teaching the patient and his family how to monitor his own condition, what causes flare-ups of symptoms and how to avoid them, doctors can reduce the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to asthma. Using a peak flow meter, an asthmatic can keep track of his lung capacity - and seek appropriate treatment if it wanders into the danger zone. Education about asthma can impress upon him the importance of measuring every day - and keeping careful records.

Extending that education into the community can literally save your child's life. Something as simple as spending an hour with a third grade class to show them how to help someone having an asthma attack can pay back unexpected dividends. After all, wouldn't you rather know that all of your child's classmates will recognize an asthma attack - and do the right thing when they see one?

The administration of your child's school is another place where asthma education can pay off big dividends. Many schools still don't understand how vital it is that a child with asthma has his inhaler with him at all times. When schools deny an asthmatic child his right to carry his inhaler for fear


that other children will find a way to abuse it, the results can be disastrous. Making the effort to do a bit of advocacy and asthma education can literally make the difference between life and death.

Community asthma education can also make a big difference in whether or not children with asthma are properly diagnosed. Many people still don't recognize the symptoms of asthma unless they see an acute attack - but mild asthma, and the symptoms of chronic asthma can be devastating to a child's life. Chronic respiratory illnesses, bronchitis, pneumonia and chest pain can keep children out of school and in the emergency room. By educating the community through public service announcements, school outreach programs, clinic visits and physician incentives, many children with hidden asthma can be reached and treated, reducing the overall costs of health care as well as improving the individual child's health.

Like diabetes education ten years ago, asthma education today can help alert parents, identify those who suffer from asthma and make sure that appropriate treatment is available to everyone who needs it. This is especially important in the case of childhood asthma, where the diagnoses and treatments and standards of care so often seem to be inequitable. Asthma education can help ensure that all parents are aware of the standard of treatment that their children SHOULD be getting - which is the first step to ensuring that the children get the care that they require.

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Visit Medopedia.com for more information on living with asthma and treatments for asthma.