Tag: Asthma

  • Usefulness of Omalizumab for treatment of asthma

    Insurance is now a part of our lives, especially health care providers.  Expensive medications such as omalizumab (Xolair™) are rarely approved for use unless patients and physicians complete an extensive application for benefits.  Here is a list of medical articles that support the use of Omalizumab in the treatment of asthma: 1.  Storms, W, et al. …

  • Obesity is not a simple fix!

    The patient with asthma has special challenges besides learning which inhaler to use at the right time.  Obesity makes asthma worse and asthma is a risk factor for obesity.  Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Treating obesity will require multiple concurrent strategies….there is no one size fits all! http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2012-05-09/obesity-epidemic-strategies/54813912/1

  • Obesity & Asthma

    We are getting used to “pills” to treat obesity.  It’s still diet and exercise, but this is an interesting report. Obesity & Asthma–USA Today

  • To Use or Not To Use FeNO (exhaled nitric oxide)

      Whether exhaled NO helps to identify a specific phenotype of asthmatic patients remains debated. Not everyone would agree with Dr. Boggs in this video–what do you think? In conclusion, FENO0.05 is independently linked to two pathophysiological characteristics of asthma (ICS-dependant inflammation and bronchomotor tone) but does not help to identify a clinically relevant phenotype of asthmatic…

  • Complementary medicine to treat Asthma?

    I have a story for you….but first, “traditional” medicine is trying very hard to work with other methods for treating asthma.  The web page below reviews treatment of asthma using something other than “inhalers“.  Now on to the story…. I am a member of the Complementary Medicine Committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma,…

  • Maybe this checklist would work for Asthma?

    Checklist for hospital discharge

  • Breathing Retraining in Asthma Management–I told you so!

    Many asthma patients or patients who can’t breathe are found to have problems with their breathing technique.  In medical terms, I use Vocal Cord Dysfunction, Spasmodic Dysphonia, Irritable Larnyx Syndrome just to name a few.  Some health care providers, including doctors, aren’t always familiar with the concept that vocal cord problems can cause difficulty breathing,…

  • On Your Mark….Get Set….

    Today marks the start of the National meeting for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology in Orlando, FL.  The Academy website is www.aaaai.org.  Over 6,000+ attendees from all over the world to present the most recent advances in allergy and asthma.  Yours truly even has an abstract on the correlation between BMI and…

  • Air fresheners–Go Organic…Not!

    Tomorrow starts the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology national meeting in Orlando.  Great fun and food, but more importantly, great new information about allergy.  If you watch the news at all, you’re bound to hear about natural products for your health.  Organic anyone?  Read this blog about a patient who only THOUGHT she had allergy;…

  • Steroids in Young Children–too Much of a Good Thing?

     Intermittent budesonide therapy for children with recurrent wheezing  Here’s the issue:  my doctor prescribes budesonide (or Pulmicort™) for my child’s asthma and tells me to use it EVERYDAY.  Is this really necessary?  Conventional wisdom says to use inhaled steroids or anti-inflammatory medications for asthma everyday or they don’t work well.  That attitude may now be…