Secondhand smoke bothers asthmatic teen

Dr. Wallace: My parents are divorced. I live with my mother for one week, and then I live with my father and his girlfriend the following week. However, there is a problem I can’t get a handle on. My dad’s girlfriend is a smoker and I have asthma. She doesn’t smoke in the house, but she smokes in an attached garage. Unfortunately, for me, the smell leaks into the house causing me to cough and wheeze...

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Should You Take a Summer Break from Asthma Medications?

It's quite common for people with asthma to feel much better during the summer months, and therefore take a break from their asthma controller medications. Kids are out of school, possibly less active, have fewer respiratory tract infections, and therefore often have less asthma symptoms. It would be reasonable to think that people don't need their asthma controller medications during the summer months. Unfortunately, this common practice is one of the reasons why asthmatic children get so sick in the autumn months when they get a viral respiratory tract infection. In fact, our office gets inundated with sick asthmatics in September -- a few weeks after school starts and kids start spreading around the common cold virus. Family of these children wind up in the emergency room or hospitalized for their asthma...

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Asthma Rates Higher Near Busy Highway

FRIDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Residents of homes that are located near congested highways have higher rates of asthma, new research finds...

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