Asthma and Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

Here’s a brief but interesting explanation of the relationship between asthma and gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD):

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/heartburn-asthma

In my case, I have suffered quite severely in the past because of this problem.

After some painful episodes of reflux, I finally had a gastroendoscopy (yuck!) where a hiatal hernia was found. This is a problem in the hiatus, which is the “valve” that closes the stomach… not working properly, it can allow digestion juices to move up the esophagus.

In not-too-severe cases, it can easily be treated by changing some habits and eventually some medication (Omeprazol or Losec)

The habits to change include:

• The head of the bed should be raised by at least a few inches
• It is needed to avoid having dinner just before going to bed… this is perfectly ok for an American or European but not so easy for a Uruguayan, as our usual dinner time is between 9 and 10 pm!!
• Avoiding or at least reducing the consumption of some things, such as caffeine drinks, high fat food, tomatoes, alcohol, etc (especially at night)

For those interested, here’s a much longer explanation of hiatal hernia and the problems it can cause:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_241-242/ai_107201216/

Beginning of Asthma New Season... lots of new episodes!

We are in those days that asthmatic people all over the world hate. It doesn’t matter where you live… it may be spring or autumn, but for sure it’s not a nice time for your allergies!

It may look as simple as 1-2-3, but we know the sad truth: it’s a tough time for us.

Apart from keeping your favourite antihistaminic at hand, do you have a tip to share?

Let’s start by providing a definition. According to Wikipedia:

“Asthma is a chronic disease of the respiratory system in which the airway occasionally constricts, becomes inflamed, and is lined with excessive amounts of mucus, often in response to one or more triggers. These episodes may be triggered by such things as exposure to an environmental stimulant (or allergen), cold air, exercise or exertion, or emotional stress.”

Important things to note from here:

Asthma is a chronic disease.

This means that a person should learn to coexist with asthma as a life partner. However, the good news is that the frequency and intensity of the episodes can vary heavily and in fact most of the asthmatic children become asymptomatic asthmatic adults, and the rest of us usually improve significantly when we grow (for instance, my last time at the hospital was when I was a 9-year old kid… since then, my asthma is pretty much under control and I can lead a pretty normal life!)

Asthma can be triggered by many different things

This is really a problem for asthmatic people, as it’s not always easy to avoid all the possible causes, although it must be said that it’s not so common to have many possible causes. For instance, in my case exercise is not usually a big problem but cold air is, and I definitely have problems with emotional stress and a few allergens.

Another cause not mentioned here is gastro-esophageal reflux (I can tell by experience…)

I would add that although asthma can definitely cause problems to many people, it’s not a too severe disease. For instance, it’s estimated that more than 300 million people suffer it worldwide (around 5% of the world population) and there are 180.000 deaths annually. Of course this percentage is not negligible but it’s very far from other serious diseases, and the best thing is that there exist very good treatments for it. The challenge is to ensure that each asthmatic (even the undiagnosed one!) in the world has enough information about the disease and can access adequate treatment.

More information to come in future posts…

Welcome!

We've all been there... sometimes you just want to write about something and you start thinking: "what do I know? what can I share?"

Well... I can't share my asthma, but I can share my experiences with it.
After all, asthma is probably the thing I'm most experienced with, as it has been my partner for a looong time.

In this blog I will share news, breakthroughs (if any...) and general comments about what asthma is and about being asthmatic.

I hope this blog is informative and practical, and that we are able to share our experiences and learnings.

Take a deep breath!