Asthma patients breathe easier with new bluetooth inhalers

Asthma attacks come with little warning and are often triggered by invisible particles in the air. Now, thanks to advances in Bluetooth technology, smartphones have become the newest weapon in the fight against asthma.
Propeller Health, a Wisconsin-based company, wants to help those with respiratory problems by supplementing medicine with technology. The firm has wired an inhaler with a Bluetooth transmitter to communicate with an asthma patient’s smartphone. This sensor activates when the inhaler is pressed, setting into motion a process that records the exact time and location of a patient’s asthma attack on a smartphone app. Doctors can view this data and see, not only how frequently the patient suffers attacks, but also tease apart the environmental factors that caused the distress.....

Read more here: pbs.org

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Climate Change Could Increase Allergy-Related Asthma ER Visits

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase through the end of this century, ER visits for allergic asthma could increase by 10 percent in the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast combined.
More children could wind up in hospital emergency rooms suffering from allergy-induced asthma if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and cause longer oak pollen seasons, according to a new study.....

Read more here: eos.org

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Allergy and Asthma Patients Flock to Emergency Rooms
Warmer winters are driving up oak pollen, sending more people to the hospital

The sneezing, watery eyes and runny noses from seasonal allergies are poised to land more people in the emergency room as temperatures rise, researchers have found.
In a study published online yesterday in GeoHealth, scientists reported that warmer winters resulting from climate change will lead to more intense pollen from oak trees, spelling more misery for allergy sufferers.....

Read more here: scientificamerican.com