Tag Archive for: asthma resources

5 Best and Worst Cities For People With Asthma

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Living with asthma, just like living with any other pulmonary condition, isn’t easy. There are lots of different things that contribute to exacerbating your asthma, but what many people don’t know is that where you live is one of them. The US is full of cities with a wide variety of weather types and climates, and if you suffer from asthma then some of them are much better or worse for you to live in.

We’ve crafted a list of the 5 best and worst cities for people who suffer from asthma to live in. 

Some cities are more asthma-friendly than others, and when we say “asthma-friendly” we mean the amount of air pollution, asthma occurrence rates, healthcare, public smoking rules, and poverty level. Every year, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America rates U.S. cities as the best and worst for people who suffer from asthma to live in.  Here are the results for 2018:

5 Best Cities For People With Asthma

5. Abilene, Texas

According to the latest data, Abilene has a considerably low asthma rate. Also, 10 years ago Abilene adopted a ban on smoking in public and work places, which creates a suitable environment for asthma sufferers.

4. San Jose, California

Even though San Jose’s air quality is considered average, it has a decent ranking for its healthcare, public smoking regulations, and pollen level. On top of that, the city is participating in the Spare the Air program that allows implementing the projects improving local air quality.

3. Seattle, Washington

Seattle is a great place for people with asthma due to its air quality, pollen level, and healthcare. Additionally, these years the city is allocating more resources to improve the local air quality.

2. Boise, Idaho

Boise is one of our favorite cities to recommend for people with asthma (after Florida locations), as it has a great level of air quality, low pollen, low poverty rate, and a required level of healthcare.

1. San Francisco, California

Not only is San Francisco a top city for its air quality, smoking laws, and low pollen, they also have an Asthma Task Force that helps to prevent asthma and improve the life quality for people with this pulmonary condition.

5 Worst Cities For People With Asthma

5. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City is not going to be a pleasant and easy-to-live-in location for people with asthma due to its low air quality and a high level of pollen. In addition to that, there are no public smoking laws that would be helpful for people with asthma.

4. Detroit, Michigan

Detroit has a pretty high rate of asthma prevalence as well as crude death asthma rate. Also, the city has a low air quality, high pollen score, high poverty rate, and no strong public smoking regulations.

3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Despite its beautiful landscape and a decent life quality level, Philadelphia is not the greatest location for asthma sufferers. The city has earned a below-average ranking for all the categories including but not limited to air quality, public smoking laws, asthma death rates, and poverty rates.

2. Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is also ranked way below average for most of the ranking factors like air quality, pollen level, public smoking laws, emergency room visits, and asthma death rate.

1. Memphis, Tennessee

Although Memphis’s air quality is average, almost all other factors are not delivering good results. For example, the city’s asthma occurrence rate, as well as asthma death rate, are pretty high, while the number of asthma specialists is considerably low. On top of that, the pollen score just like the poverty rate are very high.

Takeaways

As you might already know, asthma is a chronic condition that can’t be completely cured. However, it can be well-managed with a proper lifestyle and living location. Now, if you’ve found your city in one of the lists for the worst places for people with asthma, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to move away urgently. This means that you have to pay closer attention to your asthma management and plan everything in advance, according to your chronic condition. And, of course, if you have any questions or concerns, our pulmonologists can help you with your asthma management and treatment.

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Asthma: The Main Differences

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Most people are familiar with what asthma is and what it looks like, but did you know there are different types of asthma? Today we’ll walk you through two asthma types (extrinsic and intrinsic) and explore the similarities and differences between them.

Asthma – What Does It Mean?

Having asthma means having inflamed air passages that drastically narrow the airways which, as a result, limit the amount of oxygen that’s able to get into the lungs. Severe asthma presents with a number of unpleasant symptoms, and can even lead to an inability to talk and move actively. Regardless of what type of asthma you have, the majority of symptoms you experience will be the same. 

What Are The Main Symptoms Of Asthma?

The most common symptoms of both extrinsic and intrinsic asthmas are the following:

  • Coughing
  • Wheezing
  • Shortness of breath
  • Rapid breathing
  • Chest tightness

While the majority of people diagnosed with asthma experience almost all of the abovementioned symptoms, you might not have them all, or you may experience something in addition to the symptoms listed above. All patients are different and can develop individual asthma complications. The complete suite of your symptoms will depend on your age, weight, physical condition, stress level, lifestyle, and a number of other varying factors.

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Asthma: What Is The Actual Difference?

Probably many of you didn’t even know that asthma has two types: extrinsic and intrinsic, also referred to as allergic and non-allergic asthma. Although they’re two different types, the difference is pretty easy to explain.

1.    What Causes Allergic Vs. Non-Allergic Asthma?

Extrinsic asthma is simply asthma caused by an allergic reaction, especially a chronic one. If your asthma is allergic, you will have higher levels of IgE (Immunoglobulin E) present in your blood test. On the other hand, intrinsic asthma, as you might’ve guessed already, is triggered by various non-allergic factors like stress, cold or dry air, smoke, anxiety, viruses or infections, and more. 

2.    What Type Is The Most Common?

More than 25 million people in the US suffer from asthma. Extrinsic asthma is definitely the more common of the two diseases since around 60% of all asthma sufferers have an allergic condition.

3.    Who Is More Prone To Each Type?

Based on extensive research, experts in the medical world have been able to identify certain characteristics that are associated with sufferers of each asthma type. For example, allergic asthmatic patients are usually younger, while non-allergic ones tend to be older. This is explained by the fact that it’s harder to get non-allergic asthma while you are relatively young, as your organism is still strong and able to withstand many factors that would cause an older patient to get asthma. Surprisingly gender is also a factor, as the research claims that females are at higher risk to obtain a non-allergic type of asthma compared to males.

4.    How Are Both Types Diagnosed?

Even though extrinsic and intrinsic asthmas have the same major symptoms, the diagnosis and treatment stages do differ for both conditions. In order to identify intrinsic asthma, your doctor will have to order a lung X-ray and blood work in addition to a thorough physical examination. Sometimes your physician will also want to perform a spirometry, peak flow, or lung function tests in order to figure out more details about your condition. After that, your doctor will have to perform an analysis on what factor(s) cause your non-allergic asthma. When it comes to diagnosing extrinsic asthma, your physician will likely order all of the abovementioned tests as well as a skin prick test, to see what your body perceives as an allergen. 

5.    How Is Each Asthma Type Treated?

After your doctor identifies the influencing factor(s) contributing to your intrinsic (non-allergic) asthma, recommendations for your specific triggers have to be made. These can include changes to your environment, nutrition, and lifestyle. Additionally, you may be prescribed various medications, including antibiotics and steroids, that are aimed at your infection and inflammation. If your asthma is triggered by stress or anxiety, psychological counseling may be required to treat your non-allergic asthma.

Extrinsic (allergic) asthma treatment is usually a tandem treatment approach and often consists of treatment for your asthma as well as your allergies. Asthma treatment will involve medications to reduce the inflammation which we’ve described above. At the same time, allergy treatment will depend on the allergen you are reacting to, as well as the severity of the symptoms. Note that some corrections in your nutrition and lifestyle can also be required, in addition to traditional allergy medicine.

Think You Might Be Suffering From Asthma?

There are lots of asthma resources online, both credible and non-credible, so don’t panic or rush to do a self-diagnosis after reading one or even dozens of them. Always remember that any condition requires professional diagnosis. If you experience any symptoms of extrinsic or intrinsic asthma, you can make an appointment with any of our experienced pulmonary specialists. They’ll walk you through all stages of the disease, from education to diagnosis and treatment.