About Asthma and Asthma Triggers
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Asthma is a very common chronic (long-term) lung disease that can make it hard to breathe. About 2.4 million Canadians aged 12 and older have asthma1. Over 1.9 million Ontarians have asthma, including one out of every five children3. If you manage your asthma well, it doesn’t have to limit what you can do. With proper management, people with asthma can lead normal, active lives.
If you have asthma, your airways (breathing passages) are extra sensitive. When you are exposed to one of your asthma “triggers”, these extra-sensitive airways can:
1. Become red and swollen: Your airways get inflamed (swollen) inside and can fill up with mucus. This swelling and mucus make your airways narrower, so it’s harder for the air to pass through.
2. Become “twitchy” and go into spasm: The tiny bands of muscles around your airways can tighten up. This makes your airways narrower, leaving less room for the air to pass through.
The more red and swollen your airways are, the more they can spasm.
Asthma Triggers
Each person has their own set of asthma triggers. It is important to try to determine your set of triggers so that you can work towards eliminating or reducing them. Click on the list of common asthma triggers below for more information.
Asthma and allergens
Allergens only affect people who are “sensitized” to them, which means their immune system (the body’s defence system) is “primed” and ready to react to the allergen. To determine which allergens affect you, your doctor will assess your symptoms and send you for an allergy skin test. Allergens include:
• Pet allergens (eg., cats, dogs, hamsters, birds, etc.)
• Dust mites
• Pollen
• Mould
• Sometimes foods and food additives
Asthma and Pet Allergens
Pets shed tiny bits of skin (dander). Cats and dogs are common allergens, but many different animals can cause allergies. Other allergens from pets include cat saliva and urine from animals such as hamsters, gerbils and rabbits.
If someone is allergic to a pet, the best measure by far is to find another home for the pet. If this is not possible, there are some ways you can try to reduce exposure:
• Keep the pet out of the bedroom, limit it to certain areas of the home and keep it off furniture
• Have your pet washed and brushed frequently – by someone who is not allergic
• Another family member should feed and care for the pet
• Encase mattress and pillows in allergy-proof covers
• Reduce carpeting and buy furniture with leather or vinyl coverings that may reduce the absorption of allergens
• Don’t replace the pet once it is gone
If you don’t have a pet but intend to visit someone who does, you may want to use medications to prevent or relieve symptoms of asthma and allergies. When you do visit, you might want to ask that the pet be kept out of the room you are in. However, if you are very sensitive to pet allergens, you will likely need to stay away from any homes with pets. Try to arrange to meet somewhere else.
If you do have a pet but are not sure if it affects your asthma, ask yourself this: when you leave home on a holiday without the pet, does your asthma improve?
Asthma and Dust Mites
Dust mites are tiny microscopic insects that feed on skin particles that humans shed. They thrive in warm, moist places with lots of human skin: mattresses, pillows, carpet, and bedding. People with dust allergies are allergic to the droppings (feces) of dust mites. To get rid of the allergy-causing droppings, you must wash out the existing droppings and kill the mites so they don’t make more droppings.
The following measures may help:
• Encase your mattress and pillows with special allergen-proof covers, or with plastic or vinyl covers. Tape the zipper for a complete seal.
• Keep the humidity in your home below 50% – dust mites can’t survive well in low humidity
• If possible, remove carpets, rugs, and heavy curtains especially from your bedroom but also from the rest of the home
• Keep your bedroom free of clutter – books, boxes, and clothes lying around can all collect dust
• Minimize the number of stuffed toys in a bedroom, as these can collect dust, and make sure they are washable
• Vacuum rugs and carpets at least once a week
• Wash your bedding in hot water and dry it in a hot dryer every week
• Dust every week with a damp cloth
Asthma and Pollen
The pollen grain transports the male reproduction part of a plant to the female part for the purpose of growing a new plant. Wind-pollinated plants are of most concern to people with allergies since they are transported by the wind and are therefore readily inhaled into the nose and lungs.
Typical pollen seasons:
• Tree pollen in the spring
• Grass pollen in early summer
• Ragweed and other weeds August until the first frost
What can you do:
• Keep windows closed in home and car – use an air conditioner if needed
• Some people may need to avoid going outside when the pollen levels are high – check pollen reports
• Check the pollen counts in your area to see when the pollen you’re allergic to is at a high level
• If possible, people with allergies to pollen and mould should not cut the lawn
• If you’ve been outside when there is a lot of pollen, take a shower to wash the pollen from your skin and hair and change into new clothes when you come indoors
Asthma and Mould
Mould can grow indoors all year in damp basements and bathrooms, and outdoors from spring to fall. Mould cannot grow without moisture.
What can you do:
• Keep the humidity in your home to less than 50 per cent – you can buy a hygrometer to measure humidity at local hardware stores
• Moulds don’t like air flow, so keep your basement clutter free so that air can move around
• Always use the bathroom fan or open windows after a bath or shower
• Use a dehumidifier in your basement if it is damp
• Get helpful tips on controlling moisture in the home:
Asthma and Foods/Food Additives
Although it is uncommon, asthma may flare up as a result of generalized allergic reactions to food. If you’re allergic to a food, you’ll usually know it soon after eating it. The advantage to that is you can pinpoint the food allergy right away, especially if you’ve had a similar reaction before.
Foods that cause asthma symptoms in some people (usually young children) include:
• Nuts and peanuts
• Milk
• Shellfish and fish
• Eggs
• Soy
• Wheat
• Food additives such as sulphites (food preservative)
Once you have had an allergic reaction to a food, the best treatment is prevention: don’t eat that food! Sometimes that is difficult if you’re eating prepared food and don’t know what it contains. Reactions can occur to even tiny amounts.
Similar reactions can also occur after eating or drinking foods containing additives or preservatives such as sulphites found in beer, wine, dried fruit, frozen seafood and sometimes salad bars. Treatment for these reactions is the same as for a true allergic response.