Managing asthma in the fall season

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September is the peak of asthma season with the start of fall allergies and children returning to school. Ken Mendez of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America explains how asthma can be managed.

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00:00Joining us is Ken Mendez, CEO of AAFA. Thank you so much for being with us and discussing this

00:05important topic. Let's start with why does asthma get worse this time of year and who is most at

00:10risk? Yeah, so what happens is you've got the fall allergy season. There's ragweed pollen,

00:16which is the primary culprit. Kids start coming back to school in September, and so they've got

00:22allergies and they're spreading infections and respiratory illnesses in the classroom,

00:27and then they spread that to adults, and that's why we have something called peak week. So it

00:32generally happens when the fall allergy season is happening along with respiratory infections that

00:38spread in the classroom. I'd say 25 percent of hospital stays in children from asthma happens

00:45in September. All right. Detroit topped this year's list. What makes some places more difficult for

00:53people with asthma? Yeah, well, it's really about where you live, and that's one of the things

00:59that we try and highlight with this report. We use three things to rank the city's emergency room

01:05visits, prevalence, and hospitals and mortality. Excuse me. And so, you know, Detroit ranks high

01:15in those areas. It's got a high poverty rate and certainly a lot of pollution in that area,

01:20and then that could be a trigger for asthma. What are some of the factors that make asthma

01:26so difficult to live with? Yeah, well, certainly air quality and making sure you have access to your

01:34right medication. So making sure your asthma is well controlled. There's something called allergic

01:39asthma. Again, there's the allergy season that can trigger your asthma. So understanding what the

01:46allergy season is being like staying indoors, having an air filter indoors, understanding what your

01:51triggers are, and making sure you see your specialist, see a doctor so you understand what your triggers

01:57are and so you can get on the right kind of medication. All right. What can people do right now to better

02:03manage their asthma this fall? Yeah, well, there are a couple things that they could do first is, one,

02:09understand your triggers and make sure you minimize your exposure to those triggers. So if it's pollen

02:16and allergic asthma, you want to stay indoors during high pollen release times. And also you want to make

02:22sure that you have access to your medication. So you have a stock of medication on hand and that your

02:28asthma is well controlled. And then there's something called an asthma action plan for people. You can

02:33download it for free from our website. And it's the standard of care, which is like a scorecard,

02:39red, yellow, and green. So green, you know, you're in good shape with your asthma, but yellow,

02:44you're starting to have symptoms. You need to take certain medications and red means maybe you need

02:48to go see a hospital or a doctor. For much of the eastern part of the United States, Mr. Mendez,

02:55it's been warm and dry. I assume those conditions are more suitable for higher problems with asthma?

03:04I think it really depends on what your triggers are. So certainly dust could be a trigger for that

03:13if you've got indoor allergies. And certainly the warmth can be a challenge for some as well. It

03:21really depends on what your triggers are. And that's why we say all the time, see a doctor,

03:26because asthma really varies for depending upon who you are and what your triggers are.

03:33Excellent advice. Thank you so much. Ken Mendez, CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation.

03:38Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

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