Asthma
Why Are Amish Kids Less Prone to Asthma?
House dust rich in microbes may explain why Amish children are much less prone to asthma than other American youngsters. That's the conclusion of a fascinating new study in the New England Journal o…
Why Do Antibiotics Sometimes Help Solve Asthma P…
A great many people suffer symptoms of asthma. Even with standard treatments the wheezing may linger. Sometimes an asthma problem can be caused by an underlying infection. Q. I was recently diagnosed …
Could Yoga Practice Improve the Quality of Your …
In addition to posture, stretches and poses, yoga practice emphasizes mindful breathing. Could that benefit people who have asthma, especially since their breathing may be impaired by chest tightness…
How Did an Antibiotic Cure Asthma?
Too often the unexpected results that readers experience from taking a medication are frightening. They may uncover new or surprisingly severe side effects. But sometimes people get a delightful and u…
When Will Campbell Soup Cans Be BPA-Free?
Bisphenol A, a compound in many clear hard plastics, is known to be an endocrine disruptor in animals. There is concern that early exposure to BPA could alter development in human babies. Exposure to …
Is Azithromycin a Miracle Cure for Asthma?
Asthma, with its coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing, is usually considered an allergic condition. In this way of thinking, exposure to an allergic trigger sets off the symptoms. Doctors presc…
Colds Could Make Trouble for Children with Asthm…
Cold season may be particularly dangerous for children with asthma. Children are especially vulnerable to complications of asthma when they come down with upper respiratory tract infections. Why Are…
Vitamin D Supplements Don’t Prevent Colds
Inadequate levels of vitamin D have been linked to lower immunity and an increased risk of upper respiratory infections. We have written about these links here and here. Do Vitamin D Supplements Make …
How Much Money Can You Really Save Buying Drugs …
Q. I had a severe asthma attack that reduced my ability to breathe. The doctor prescribed Advair and the script was sent to my regular online pharmacy. They called me to ask permission to bill me $857…
Dogs May Protect Kids from Asthma
We have all heard that dogs are man's best friends. That may be doubly true for children. But unless you are a pediatrician or a microbiologist who has been following this story for a long time, you …
Did Marijuana Help Relieve Asthma Symptoms?
Q. I was born in 1933 and had asthma when I was in my teens. I inhaled the smoke from Rexall Asthma Powder to treat it. I would put about a teaspoonful of the powder on the tin cover of the asthma pow…
Aerobic Exercise Reduces Asthma Severity
New research shows an old-fashioned,affordable approach can help patients control symptoms of moderate to severe asthma. Apparently, aerobic exercise reduces asthma severity. The trial included 43 adu…
Mycobacterium Infection Was Misdiagnosed as Asth…
Some ideas have a hard time getting accepted by mainstream medicine. One of them is the idea that an infection that hides inside lung cells and is difficult to culture might create symptoms reminiscen…
How I Overcame Asthma That Would Not Quit
When I was a kid I was allergic to lots of stuff-ragweed, cat dander, grass pollens, mold and fungi (Alternaria). I would sneeze continuously every morning in the spring and fall. When I caught a cold…
Z-Pak (Azithromycin) Cured Asthma Symptoms
Everyone agrees that asthma is an inflammatory reaction within the lungs. What is controversial, however, is what causes the inflammation and what patients should do about it. The prevailing theory is…
Cleaning Products Make Asthma Symptoms Worse
Spring cleaning could make asthma symptoms worse, according to a new study. The scientists studied 21 women who worked for cleaning services in Barcelona, Spain. All of the women had had asthma sympto…
Soy Compound Fails to Relieve Asthma Symptoms
Past observations have suggested that a compound from soy called genistein might ease asthma symptoms. That's partly because high levels of this isoflavone can reduce the inflammatory compounds produc…
Doctors Ignore Possible Asthma Cure
May is Asthma Awareness Month, This month, we'd like to raise awareness that asthma might be linked to lurking lung infection that can be tricky to diagnose. Eradicating the infection could lead to an…
Asthma Treatment with Prednisone Triggered Stero…
Q. My 16-year-old grandson's pediatrician prescribed prednisone for 5 days with a follow-up of 6 weeks of steroids for a recent asthma attack. My grandson was also given an inhaler with steroids in it…
Do You Know How to Use Your Inhaler?
Certain medical devices are widely used by consumers to control dangerous disease symptoms. Two of them, epinephrine self-injection and asthma inhalers, are used in emergency situations. A new study s…
Vitamin C Stops Asthma Cough
Q. Years ago, I read that a cough associated with asthma could be relieved by taking cough lozenges with vitamin C. I tried it and it works. It has been almost six years and now I only cough when I ru…
Kids Exposed to BPA Before Birth Are More Likely…
Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) seems to put children at greater risk of breathing difficulty later, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics. BPA is found in the lining of cans for fo…
The Worst Time of Year for Asthma
September 18th was the worst asthma day of the year. Experience reveals that more people are hospitalized because of asthma attacks right after the middle of September than at any other time of the ye…
Antibiotic Treatment Is Easing Asthma Symptoms T…
Q. After reading about antibiotic treatment for asthma on the People's Pharmacy website, I am now taking azithromycin. My pulmonologist was aware of this treatment and agreed to me trying it. After fo…
Jim’s Story: Reclaiming a Life Nearly Ruin…
Back in 1985, things were going well for Jim Quinlan and his wife. They had just bought a house and had a second baby. Jim had a new job, too. Life was looking good, until the end of the year when Jim…
Malia’s Story: Athletic Promise Threatened…
Malia is an athlete, and in high school she was competing in cross-country at a very competitive level. Then, her senior year, a friend and teammate came down with a case of Chlamydia pneumoniae. Seve…
Which Facts About Asthma Are Really Myths?
In observance of National Asthma Awareness Month, we share five facts and five myths about asthma with you. Fact: Asthma affects about 18 million adults in America, or roughly 8% of the population. Fa…
Don’t Take Breathing for Granted: Today Is…
May 6 is World Asthma Day and we at The People's Pharmacy strongly believe that this global initiative merits your attention. We will be devoting this entire month to important stories about asthma. T…
When Asthma Is Caused by a Chronic Lung Infectio…
Q. I have asthma and have found the drugs my doctors prescribe don't do very much for me. I was intrigued by something you wrote about asthma being caused by infection. Both my family physician and my…
Genetic Variations May Put Some People at Higher…
Asthma treatment now relies on drugs that help open airways and keep them open. They are called long-acting beta agonists, or LABAs, and include salmeterol found in Advair and formoterol in Symbicor…
Curing Lung Infection Could Clear Up Asthma
Q. I read a letter in your column from a person who had a lung infection and asthma. I seem to remember the infection was hard to detect. The doctor prescribed several rounds of antibiotics to clear i…
Can You Cure Hard-To-Treat Asthma with Antibioti…
Q. I learned about the extended use of antibiotics for hard-to-treat asthma and convinced my GP to try three weeks of the antibiotic. I went from a high of 380 on my peak flow meter to 480, a 100 poin…
Living with Dogs May Help Protect Against Asthma
An old Mexican folk remedy for a child's asthma is to adopt a Chihuahua. Most experts have long categorized this idea as an old wives' tale that has no basis in science. Now, a study published in the …
Spiriva (Tiotropium) Side Effects & Memory …
You may have seen commercials of a person with an elephant sitting on her chest. Here's a link in case you may have missed them. It's a clever marketing strategy to reinforce the idea that a serious b…
Curing Asthma Instead of Coping With Wheezing
Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal has an amazing article about asthma on the front page of Sunday's New York Times (10-13-13). It was titled The Soaring Cost of a Simple Breath. She revealed that 40 million Ame…
Asthma Inhalers (Albuterol) vs. Caffeine
Q. I ran this morning and was having trouble breathing and felt tightness in my chest. I took 2 puffs of my expired inhaler because it was all I had. It did not help. I just drank about 10 oz. of coff…
Could Curry Counteract Clotting?
Q. I was searching for natural asthma relief and read that turmeric could tame wheezing. This is the main ingredient in curry powder. I have been swallowing spoonsful of them both for several days. I …
Asthma Treatment Affects Growth
Inhaled corticosteroids are a mainstay of asthma treatment. These puffers include brand name products such as Advair, Flovent, Pulmicort and Symbicort. Doctors have long assumed that such inhaled drug…
Nut-Munching Moms Don’t Trigger Kids’…
Pregnant women have been given mixed messages about nuts. Until recently some national guidelines called for women to avoid eating nuts and peanuts during pregnancy. Experts feared that in utero expos…
Does Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Put Kids at Risk of…
For most of the 20th century, pediatricians and parents preferred aspirin for lowering fevers and easing pain in children. But in 1980 a report linked aspirin to Reye syndrome, a rare but potentially …