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Your gas stove might be making your asthma worse. Here’s what you can do about it

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nusrat-homaira-1199433">Nusrat Homaira</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> We may think of air pollution as an outdoor problem, made up of car exhaust and smog. But if the air inside our homes is polluted, this can also affect our health. In Australia, around 12% of childhood asthma can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29642816/">be attributed</a> to gas stoves and the toxic chemicals they release into the air. And while there’s a growing push to phase out gas indoors, some 38% of Australian households <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/7/damp-housing-gas-stoves-and-burden-childhood-asthma-australia">rely on natural gas</a> for cooking. Recommended interventions – such as replacing a gas stove with electric – may not be possible for those who are renting or struggling with the cost of living. This is important because, as our <a href="https://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-024-00361-2">research</a> shows, childhood asthma is more common in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. If you’re living with gas, here’s how it can affect you or your child’s asthma, and what you can do to improve air quality. <h2>What is asthma?</h2> Asthma is the most common chronic condition in Australian children. The respiratory condition affects <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-respiratory-conditions/asthma">almost</a> 400,000 of those aged aged 14 and under – close to 9% of that age group. Asthma narrows the airways and obstructs airflow, making it hard to breath. Many people manage the condition with inhalers and <a href="https://asthma.org.au/manage-asthma/asthma-action-plan/">asthma action plans</a>. But it can be serious and even fatal. Australian emergency departments saw <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-respiratory-conditions/asthma">56,600 presentations</a> for asthma in 2020-21. While there is no single cause for asthma, both indoor and outdoor air pollution play a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38247719/">significant role</a>. Being exposed to small <a href="https://aafa.org/asthma/asthma-triggers-causes/air-pollution-smog-asthma/#:%7E:text=Air%20pollution%20can%20increase%20your,if%20you%20already%20have%20asthma.&text=Small%20airborne%20particles%2C%20found%20in,%E2%80%9Cparticulate%20matter%E2%80%9D%20or%20PM.">airborne particles</a> increases your risk of getting asthma, and can aggravate symptoms if you already have it. <h2>Gas stoves release nitrogen dioxide</h2> The gas stoves commonly found in Australian homes release toxic chemicals into the air. They include carbon monoxide (CO), PM₂.₅ (small particles, often from <a href="https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/environmental-information/air-quality/pm25-particles-in-the-air">smoke</a>), benzene, formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). All are harmful, but nitrogen dioxide in particular is <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA656312383&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00220892&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E7027bb9f&aty=open-web-entry">associated</a> with asthma developing and getting <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/rccm.200408-1123OC">worse</a>. Gas heaters can also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9731022/">produce</a> nitrogen dioxide. As nitrogen dioxide is a tasteless, invisible gas, it’s difficult to know how much is in your air at home unless you have an air monitor. However one US <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662932/">study</a> showed houses with gas stoves can have nitrogen dioxide levels three times higher than houses with electric stoves. This is particularly concerning for households with children, given children tend to spend <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11477521/">most</a> of their time indoors. <h2>Banning gas</h2> There is a growing push across Australia to replace gas stoves with electric stoves, which are more energy efficient and can reduce indoor air pollution. <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">Victoria</a> and the <a href="https://www.climatechoices.act.gov.au/energy/canberras-electrification-pathway/preventing-new-gas-network-connections">Australian Capital Territory</a> have announced bans on gas connections in new homes from 2024. Sydney’s Waverley council recently made a similar <a href="https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/climate_resilience_and_reducing_emissions/go_electric">move</a>. But until a ban on using household gas appliances is implemented across the country, the problem persists for children who are currently living in old homes or rented properties with gas stoves. <h2>Do exhaust fans in the kitchen help?</h2> Using a high-efficiency <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24750219/">exhaust hood</a> placed over an existing gas cooktop can be effective. They can <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/7/damp-housing-gas-stoves-and-burden-childhood-asthma-australia">capture</a> more than 75% of air pollutants and direct them outside. Cooking on the back burner – rather than the front burner – can also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24750219/">improve their efficiency</a>. However exhaust hoods with lower flow rates, or hoods that don’t vent the air outside, are less effective. And an exhaust hood only improves air quality if you use it. One <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10520075/">study</a> in Melbourne found more than 40% of people didn’t use an exhaust hood regularly while cooking. For many people, installing high-efficiency exhaust hoods will not be practical – especially for those renting or experiencing socio-economic disadvantage. <h2>Natural ventilation</h2> There is a free way to ventilate your home. Keeping windows open during and after cooking will increase air flow and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32970538/">evidence shows</a> this can improve overall air quality. However this is not always possible, especially during cooler months of the year which can be especially chilly in places such as Victoria and Tasmania. Unfortunately, people are also more likely to use gas heaters during those cooler months. <h2>What about heaters?</h2> There are two kinds of gas heaters, flued and unflued. Like cooking with gas, unflued gas heaters release air pollutants including nitrogen dioxide directly into the home. Flued heaters are better for air quality because they use a chimney, or “flue”, to send emissions outside. If you can, replacing your unflued gas heater with a flued one – or even better, an electric heater – can significantly <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15075170/">alleviate</a> asthma symptoms. If you can’t replace your unflued gas heater, <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/unflued-gas-heaters.aspx">do not use it overnight</a> in the room where you or your children sleep. Asthma can’t be cured, but its symptoms can be controlled by managing triggers – and this may be easier to do indoors than out. Improving air quality, even in a rented or old property, can help people with asthma breathe more easily.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/238787/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nusrat-homaira-1199433">Nusrat Homaira</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Clinical Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-gas-stove-might-be-making-your-asthma-worse-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it-238787">original article</a>.

Body

How burgers and chips for lunch can worsen your asthma that afternoon

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evan-williams-1441945">Evan Williams</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> Certain foods or dietary patterns are linked with better control of your asthma. Others may make it worse. Depending on what you’ve eaten, you can see the effects in hours. Food can affect how well your lungs function, how often you have asthma attacks and how well your puffer works. Here’s what we know about which foods to eat more of, and which are best to eat in smaller amounts, if you have asthma. <h2>Asthma and inflammation</h2> About <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/asthma/latest-release">one in ten</a> Australians (2.7 million people) have asthma. This makes it the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/chronic-conditions/chronic-conditions-in-australia">fourth</a> most common chronic (persisting) disease in Australia. <a href="https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/understanding-asthma/what-is-asthma">Asthma</a> is an inflammatory disease. When someone is exposed to certain triggers (such as respiratory viruses, dust or exercise), the airways leading to the lungs become inflamed and narrow. This makes it difficult for them to breathe during what’s commonly known as an asthma attack (or exacerbation). Researchers are becoming increasingly aware of how someone’s diet can affect their asthma symptoms, including how often they have one of these attacks. <h2>Thumbs up for fruit and veg</h2> The Mediterranean diet – a diet high in fruit, vegetables and oily fish – is linked with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30997754/">less wheezing</a> in children, whether or not they have been diagnosed with asthma. Some, but not all, of the studies found this was regardless of the children’s body-mass index (BMI) or socioeconomic status. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables is also important for adults with asthma. Two studies found adults who were instructed to eat a diet with few fruits and vegetables (two or fewer servings of vegetables, and one serving of fruit daily) had <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18324527/">worse lung function</a> and were twice as likely to have an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22854412/">asthma attack</a> compared to those eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534507/original/file-20230628-23-j6h1ll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Mediterranean diet pyramid" /></a><figcaption>The Mediterranean diet is rich in antioxidants and soluble fibre. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/illustration-mediterranean-diet-meal-shape-food-1640001031">Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Why might the Mediterranean diet, or one rich in fruit and vegetables, help? Researchers think it’s because people are eating more antioxidants and soluble fibre, both of which have anti-inflammatory action: <ul> <li> antioxidants <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075620/">neutralise free radicals</a>. These are the damaging molecules produced as a result of inflammation, which can ultimately cause more inflammation </li> <li> soluble fibre is fermented by gut bacteria to produce short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, which <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352385919300246">reduce inflammation</a>. </li> </ul> The Mediterranean diet is also high in omega-3 fatty acids (from oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna). However a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/12/3839">review</a> looked at five studies that investigated omega-3 intake (through the diet or with a supplement) in adults with asthma. None of the studies showed any benefit associated with omega-3 for asthma. Of course there is no harm in eating foods high in omega-3 – such as oily fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds and walnuts. This has numerous other benefits, such as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29350557/">lowering the risk</a> of heart disease. <h2>Thumbs down for saturated fat, sugar, red meat</h2> Saturated fats are found in highly processed foods such as biscuits, sausages, pastries and chocolate, and in fast foods. Diets high in saturated fats, plus sugar and red meat, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4888803/">can worsen</a> someone’s asthma symptoms. For instance, one study found a diet high in these foods increased the number of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18829673/">asthma attacks</a> in adults. Foods high in saturated fat can have an impact in as little as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21377715/">four hours</a>. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21377715/">One study</a> looked at what happened when adults with asthma ate a meal high in saturated fat (consisting of two hash browns, a sausage and egg muffin, and a sausage muffin) compared with a meal with similar calories but low in saturated fat. People who ate the meal high in saturated fat had reduced lung function within four hours. Within four hours, their puffer was also less effective. These worsening symptoms were likely driven by an increase in inflammation. Around the four hour mark, researchers found an increase in the number of the immune cells known as neutrophils, which play a role in inflammation. It’s still OK to eat a sneaky burger or some hot chips occasionally if you have asthma. But knowing that eating too many of these foods can affect your asthma can help you make choices that might improve your quality of life. <h2>What about dairy?</h2> One food type you don’t have to avoid, though, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-dairy-products-exacerbate-asthma-10641">dairy products</a>. Although many people with asthma report eating dairy worsens their asthma, evidence shows this to be untrue. In fact, one study in adults with asthma found drinking milk was linked to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33918391/">better</a> lung function.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206402/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evan-williams-1441945">Evan Williams</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher in Respiratory and Nutritional Biochemistry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-burgers-and-chips-for-lunch-can-worsen-your-asthma-that-afternoon-206402">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

Real reason boy struggled to breathe for over half his life

A young boy who from the age of two began to struggle with his breathing must now undergo major surgery after being misdiagnosed by doctors. Marley was just two years old and had a lingering cough, which his parents didn’t think much of until a few years later when it got considerably worse. The young boy was eventually diagnosed with asthma, the treatment for which was expected to help him breathe. Unfortunately, Marley’s condition kept getting worse and his father Jay Enjakovic wanted to get to the bottom of it. Mr Enjakovic explained that his son was playing football and basketball and his health “went downhill pretty quick”. “He couldn’t run out his games, coughing a lot more, bringing a lot of food up, bringing water up every time he ate,” the worried father said on The Today Show. Then, together with his wife Skye, the pair were determined to find out what was wrong with their son, who was struggling for more than half his life. The now eight-year-old was in and out of hospitals when his condition turned critical in December 2021. X-rays of Marley’s oesophagus and trachea were done and it was there the family were shocked to be told that their son possibly had tracheoesophageal fistula. Tracheoesophageal fistula is when the oesophagus is connected to the trachea which makes food, drink and saliva enter from the trachea. Doctors were ready to do a surgery on Marley but were unable to due to the inflammation. They then decided to do another X-ray, which is when they were even MORE shocked to see that something was in fact lodged in the young boy’s throat. “A few hours later I received a phone call to meet his surgeon at recovery where they pulled a piece of plastic, an arts and craft plastic flower, from his airway,” Ms Enjakovic said. “I honestly couldn’t believe it! This was the whole cause of everything! I was relieved I finally had an answer. “We are unsure how long this price of plastic was lodged in his airway, but my guess is at least five years as that’s when we started noticing small issues, which became worse over time.” The flower has since been removed and Marley is due to undergo further surgery to help repair the airway and oesophagus. Images: The Today Show

Body

Cooking with gas? It could be wreaking havoc with kids’ health

The Climate Council has released new research finding the use of gas is Australian households puts kids at a higher risk of asthma. Additionally, the <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/gas-habit-how-gas-harming-health/">Kicking the Gas Habit: How Gas is Harming Our Health</a> report also found that gas-powered cooking has more harmful impacts on Australia. Using gas for cooking and heating harms our health, while the extraction process exposes communities to hazardous substances. “Far from the ‘clean and natural’ image that the gas industry markets, gas cooktops are known to produce contaminants that increase the risk of childhood asthma, in particular, nitrogen dioxide and certain forms of particulate matter, like PM2.5,” the report said. The Climate Council also found that children and those in poorer households are at the highest risk from gas use in home and schools. How does gas at home affect kids? Kate Charlesworth, Climate Council spokeswoman and report author, compared the risk of a child developing asthma from living in a home using gas to a child living with household cigarette smoke. “Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12 per cent of the childhood asthma burden in Australia,” she said. Asthma Australia CEO Michele Goodman called on families to do everything they can “to improve health outcomes for our children”. “Australia has some of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and it is the leading cause of disease burden among school-aged children,” she said. “Some people will be shocked to learn that cooking dinner on a gas stove could be contributing to their child’s asthma symptoms, we need education to improve awareness for indoor air pollution,” she continued. To reduce the risk, Goodman says people should increase the ventilation at home by using “modern extraction fans over gas stoves, flues for gas heaters, and simple measures like opening windows.” But, she said “this won’t eliminate the risk completely.” Gas extraction also harms communities The report also found that people living near coal seam gas developments in Queensland’s Darling Downs “were more likely to be hospitalised for tumours, as well as blood and immune diseases.” It called on the government to shift away from gas and adopt cleaner energy alternatives like solar or wind power. “Gas is a polluting fossil fuel. Governments can prevent health issues, and reduce harm, by helping households and the country move away from gas,” the report said. Gas extraction and processing was also found to “involve many hazardous substances, including those that cause cancer, interfere with childhood development, trigger asthma and contaminate the local environment through airborne pollution and wastewater.” What is the Climate Council? According to <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/">its website</a>, the Climate Council is the country’s leading climate change communications organisation that has been providing advice to the public on climate change and science-based solutions since its inception in 2013. “We’re made up of some of the country’s leading climate scientists, health, renewable energy and policy experts, as well as a team of staff, and a huge community of volunteers and supporters who power our work. “As an independent voice on climate change, we get climate stories into the media, produce hard-hitting reports, call out misinformation as we see it and promote climate solutions such as the transition to renewables.”

Body

Coronavirus and asthma: What we know so far

When the new coronavirus arrived in early 2020, people with asthma were identified as being at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing">higher risk</a> from the disease. Judgements about who was at increased risk had to be made on the best available evidence – which wasn’t much. Data from China was only just emerging and COVID-19 had yet to reach pandemic status. Given that <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/asthma/">asthma is a lung disease</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/what-happens-to-your-lungs-with-coronavirus-covid-19">COVID-19 targets the lungs</a>, it made sense that people with asthma would be considered at higher risk, as they are from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/asthma.htm#:%7E:text=Flu%20infection%20in%20the%20lungs,who%20do%20not%20have%20asthma.">other respiratory illnesses</a>. But as more data emerged, the picture became less clear. Hospital data represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to COVID-19 infections. Most people who are infected won’t be ill enough to be sent to hospital. Some <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3012">won’t even know they have the disease</a>. But without sustained and widespread testing, it’s the only data available. Early studies from <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32294485/">China</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6913e2.htm">the US</a> showed that the proportion of people with asthma coming to hospital with COVID-19 was lower than the proportion of people with asthma in the general population. Yet <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.23.20076042v1.full.pdf">data from the UK</a> suggests people with asthma are neither over nor underrepresented in hospitalised patients with COVID-19. It is still possible that people with asthma are more likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 than people without asthma, but issues with the studies are providing an inaccurate picture. It is also possible that the early findings might be genuine, and due to differences in immune responses or protective effects of certain asthma medications. It is clear that risks from COVID-19 depend on a lot more than whether or not you have asthma, but most of the available data doesn’t go into this very much. People with <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/asthma.html">more severe forms of asthma</a> are considered at higher risk. There is hardly any information on how asthma might affect COVID-19 infection in young people because so few children become seriously ill with COVID-19. Once in hospital, <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.06.20092999v1.full.pdf">preliminary data from the UK</a> shows that asthma is associated with an increased risk of dying with COVID-19. Risks appear higher in people recently prescribed <a href="https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/inhalers-medicines-treatments/steroids/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrqCJxMzi6QIVBbTtCh3TdgTNEAAYASAAEgIewPD_BwE">oral corticosteroids</a>, which is one type of medication used for asthma. This does not necessarily mean oral corticosteroids themselves increase COVID-19 risk. People with more severe asthma are more likely to be prescribed these medications than people with less severe asthma and, as noted above, people with more severe asthma are considered at higher risk from COVID-19. In fact, some have speculated that oral corticosteroids might help protect against COVID-19, but the <a href="https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/inhaled-steroids-in-asthma-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/">evidence for this is unclear</a>. What the guidance says As well as the direct risks that COVID-19 infection poses to people with asthma, disruptions and changes brought on by the pandemic may affect asthma outcomes. Diagnosing and routinely monitoring asthma relies on a range of tests administered in face-to-face visits. But, to cut the risks of virus transmission, a lot of these services have been reduced. <a href="https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/coronavirus-covid-19/what-should-people-with-asthma-do-now/#AsthmaCare">Asthma UK</a> has guidance on what people might expect from their usual asthma care at the moment. <a href="https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/asthma-and-covid-19-risks-and-management-considerations/">The advice</a> is that people manage their asthma as well as possible to reduce risk from COVID-19. This includes restarting or continuing prescribed medications and avoiding known triggers, such as air pollution and cigarette smoke. Some countries now recommend that people wear a face covering (not a surgical mask) in certain settings. Wearing a face covering may be difficult for some people with asthma, and the UK government has advised that people with respiratory conditions don’t need to wear face coverings <a href="https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/coronavirus-covid-19/what-should-people-with-asthma-do-now/">if it is difficult for them to do so</a>. Finally, it’s worth noting that this pandemic has the potential to affect <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/">mental health and wellbeing</a> and that this may be even more of a risk for people with <a href="https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/supporting-people-with-long-term-conditions-ltcs-during-national-emergencies/">long-term conditions</a>, such as asthma. Anxiety and depression are associated with worse asthma control. The charity, <a href="https://www.asthma.org.uk/coronavirus/">Asthma UK</a>, recommends people with asthma stay active, look after their health, stay social, and ask for support. While research continues to establish who is at high risk from COVID-19 infection, it’s important not to lose sight of the broader ways in which this pandemic may affect people with asthma – and the fact that some groups of people will be <a href="https://www.asthma.org.uk/dd78d558/globalassets/get-involved/external-affairs-campaigns/publications/health-inequality/auk-health-inequalities-final.pdf">more affected than others</a>. Both asthma and COVID-19 disproportionately affect people from more deprived communities and people from non-white ethnic groups. New ways of managing asthma will need to be found and they must be designed to minimise the impact of this double burden wherever possible.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139693/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jamie-hartmann-boyce-528029">Jamie Hartmann-Boyce</a>, Departmental Lecturer and Co-Director of Evidence-Based Healthcare DPhil programme, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-asthma-what-we-know-so-far-139693">original article</a>.

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5 spring exercise tips for asthmatics

If you have asthma and allergies, spring can mean your asthma symptoms worsen and ultimately you are put off exercising and keeping active outdoors as the sun begins to shine. In fact, in New Zealand, one in nine adults suffer from asthma, with 84 per cent of sufferers saying their symptoms worsen during the cold, flu and allergy seasons. However, it important not to give up working out altogether and to find a way around those pesky symptoms. <a href="http://www.amcal.com.au/" target="_blank">Amcal</a> Senior Pharmacist, James Nevile, outlines his top tips for working out with asthma in spring. 1. Know your triggers Whether it’s cold air, exercise, or pollens, know what triggers your asthma and adjust your activity accordingly. If there is a high pollen count, perform the appropriate warm up exercise and try to do your exercise indoors. If you don’t yet know what sets you off, keep an asthma journal where you can document times of the day that this worsens. You can then chat this through with your pharmacist or GP. Before changing your exercise plan, speak to your doctor to be sure you have an up to date asthma action plan and take your asthma medicines according to your action plan. 2. Be pragmatic If you know you’re going to work out that day, be sure to use both your preventer medicine and reliever medicine as per your asthma action plan. You don’t have to stop doing what you love, but if it’s a particularly cold and windy day, try to complete an indoor work-out instead of exercising outdoors. 3. Asthma control can vary with seasons For some people living with asthma, their symptoms may worsen as a result of the weather. If you’re having trouble breathing, it might be a sign that you need to go speak to your pharmacist who may refer you to a doctor. Many people find that when they are feeling run down with a cold or flu, they’ll experience asthma-like respiratory issues. Even if you’ve never had asthma before, go get it checked out to be safe. 4. Mix up your routine During strenuous activity, we tend to breathe through our mouths – allowing the cool, dry air directly into our lungs causing shortness of breath, coughing and decreased performance. While you don’t have to hang up your running shoes, you could alternate your workout schedule with activities such as swimming are also great for fitness but less likely to trigger respiratory issues. 5. Know when to take it easy No, you can’t sweat out that cold and flu as much as you might want to – sometimes you just have to take a day off. When you’re struck down with a virus, the best thing for recovery is rest. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have some time off exercise to get better. If you keep the fluids up and get ample sleep, you’ll be back to your full energy levels much faster than if you try to push through! How do you manage your asthma while exercising? Let us know in the comments below. Related links: <a href="/health/body/2016/07/seniors-guide-to-healthcare/">Why we need a seniors guide to healthcare</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/07/expert-tips-to-manage-type-2-diabetes/">Expert tips to manage type 2 diabetes</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/07/debunking-myths-about-fasting/">Debunking 4 myths about fasting</a>

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5 spring exercise tips for asthmatics