|
![]() | THE SNEEZIN' SEASON How to survive allergies and asthma May 2, 1997 Additional Comments |
|---|
![]()
Questions asked
in this forum:
How can I control and treat my asthma? Is there a relation between the menstral cycle and asthma and allergy symptoms? Can adults develop asthma late in life? What are the hereditary aspects of asthma and allergies? Is it true that the longer you breast feed, the less allergies your children will have? What new drugs are available to treat asthma and allergies? What kinds of allergy testing alternatives are there?
NewsHour Links
Browse NewsHour coverage of Health issues.
OUTSIDE LINKS
The National Allergy Bureau gives up-to-date allergy conditions.
Check out the Nationwide Asthma Screening Program.
The Quality of Life test can tell you whether allergies and asthma are limiting your life.
Allergy and Asthma Online.
Joseph McDonald of Burlington, VT: I have allergies that bother me early in the Spring and late in the Fall, and usually only when I am outside working (i.e. raking leaves.) I usually take over the counter medicines because the allergies were never bad enough to go through the trouble of getting all the tests done. In your opinion, which over the counter medicines are most effective for occasional allergy problems? Are there other ways to prevent the problem or lessen the symptoms? Joyce M. Gay of Kaneohe, HI:
We have had a wet winter here and I have been suffering from the usual allergy symptoms such as sore throat, itchy eyes and sinus congestion.
The mildew problem is so bad that I spend every Saturday morning wiping black molds off the furniture in the house. With our climate, the house is open year around so there is no hope of keeping mold spores out.
This winter I have suffered an ever increasing number of migraine headaches and frequent spells of vertigo. Once I fainted for no apparent reason, fell and broke a leg. After that incident and in subsequent hospitalization for the leg, a full battery of scans and tests including a Holter monitor failed to find any cause for the headaches or the dizzyness. I recently read an article about mold & mildew reduction in which similar symptoms were described.
Pavel Splechta of Ft. Meade, MD:Dr. Winder
I have a six year old daughter who has been diagnosed with RAD/Asthma(cough variant). During this school year she has missed several days of school due to a number of respiratory related illnesses. Her absences have caused us some problems with the school board. My wife and I have heard that Asthma is the number one cause of school absences. Ed Spall of Manassas Va:I have pollen allergies at this time of year. I am 57 and have had allergic symptoms since the onset of puberty. Do you eventually outgrow the problem or is it permanent? My son, 25 has a much worse problem than mine ... he is all- ergic to pollen, cat dander, dust, etc and violently allerg- ic to cashew peanuts. In fact he has had severe constriction of the windpipe occurr when he unknowingly has consumed cash- ew nuts.... very scary! He has been taking desenthesization shots for over 5 years but no change has occurred. Will his condition eventually develop into Asthsma?
Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station. PBS Online Privacy Policy
Copyright ©1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved.