Use auto air conditioning wisely.

Air conditioning may be good for asthmatics but not if it’s bringing the outside air in, warns allergist Norman Richard, M.D., a clinical assistant professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Don’t run the car’s air conditioning on the setting that draws in outside air and cools it” he says. “Outside air brings with it pollen, and cool, pollinated air is bad for asthma. Set your air condi tioner on the recirculate or maximum setting, which won’t bring in pollen.”

Watch what you eat.

Eating the wrong foods could be the right recipe for an asthma attack. “Some of the most common types of foods that trigger asthma are milk, eggs, nuts, and seafood,” says Dr. Carlson. If you’re asthmatic, learn which foods can trigger an attack and avoid them.

Stay out of the kitchen.
Even smelling the foods you’re sensitive to can bring on an attack, says Dr. Carlson. In a study; he discovered that just a whiff of eggs frying in the pan was enough to bring on asthma attacks in a couple of his patients. “You don’t have to eat the foods to be affected. Just the aroma of the food could bring on asthma in some people.”

Be salt sensible.
In a study conducted at the Department of Community Medicine of St. Thomas Hospital in London, researchers discovered that table salt could have a life-threatening effect on your asthma. “A strong correlation was found between table salt purchases and asthma mortality in both men and children,” reported the researchers. Buying the salt wasn’t killing people; eating it was.

Beware of food additives.

“Food additives, especially metabisulfite and possibly MSG monosodium glutamate, can trigger asthma” says allergist William Busse, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. “Most commonly metabisulfite is found in beer, wine, shrimp, and dried fruits, particularly apricots.”
Sulfites also used to be sprinkled on fruits and vegetables on salad bars to keep them looking fresh, but that practice has been banned. The best advice, according to Dr. Busse, “is to be aware ofthe kinds of foods sulfites are in and avoid them. When eating out, ask if MSG or metabisulfite is added to the food, and if so, request it be left out of your meal.”

Does your asthma kick in at about the sixth block of your daily jog? When physically working hard, do you suddenly find yourself gasping for air? If you do, you may be experiencing exercise-induced asthma-and you’re in some pretty elite company. “At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, fully 20 percent of the Olympians suffered with it,” says William Ziering, MD. “In the general population now, one in ten people is thought to have it.” And you’re that one. Lucky you. Here’s what Or. Ziering recommends you do. Open your stride, not your mouth. When you open your mouth to gasp for air when exercising hard, you’re drying the back of your throat and it becomes cool, which triggers your asthma. Keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose. Swim to dampen your asthma. Swimming is the ideal exercise for asthmatics, says Or. Ziering. Because of the high humidity, your mouth won’t dry out. “But any sport that requires shorter bursts of exercise, such as baseball, tennis, and golf, is good.” Give yourself a breather. If you run like a deer, you’re going to wear out fast. Asthmatics need to pace themselves. “Take the time to warm up, and then start out slow,” he says. Pack your asthma medicine in your gym bag. Use it before you suit up. “If you take your medicine 15 minutes before activity, you should be all right,” he says. And all you future Olympians needn’t worry. Your asthma medication is sanctioned by the Olympic committee.

“Asthma means twitchy airways,” says Peter creucos. M.D., an allergist and co-director of Johns Hopkins Center for Asthma and Allergic Disease in Baltimore, Maryland. “Your bronchial airways suddenly contract. you feel a tightness in your chest. you become short of breath, and you cough and wheeze.” “In the under-40 age group, probably 90 percent of asthma is triggered by an allergy,” says William Ziering, M.D., a Fresno, California., allergist. Tree, weed, and grass pollens, animal dander, dust mites, and mold are the biggest allergic triggers for asthma.To find out how to control these common allergens, “After age 40, it’s about 50 percent. The other 50 percent is triggered by some form of lung disorder such as emphysema.”

The Doctors Book of Home Remedies

But no matter what the cause, asthma needn’t be a life sentence.You can get your chest problems under control. “Asthma is a reversible disease,” says Dr. Ziering. And you don’t have to go to the Sahara desert looking for a way to reverse your asthma; there’s plenty you can do right at home.

Stay out of smoke-filled rooms.

People with asthma shouldn’t smoke, but a recent study done in Canada found that people around asthmatics shouldn’t smoke either. “This is particularly important in the winter months, when houses are closed up,” says Brenda Morrison, Ph.D., a researcher and associate professor at the University of British Columbia, who conducted a study on the effects of cigarette smoking on asthma. “If someone in the house smokes, it leads to a worsening of asthma, especially in children.”

Don’t light a fire.
Throwing another log on the fire, or in the wood stove, will also fuel asthma. “Wood stoves and fireplaces can cause significant trouble for people with asthma,” says John Carlson, MD., an allergist from Virginia Beach, Virginia. If you must make a fire, be sure the wood stove and chimney are airtight in order to reduce the amount of particulates released in to your room - and lungs. Also, make sure the room is well ventilated and the fireplace draws well.

Take an antacid at bedtime

Going to sleep on a full stomach might also feed your asthma. “Asthma can be caused by stomach reflux,” a condition in which acid backs up into your esophagus from your stomach. “Your stomach contents may leak out a little and drip down into your airway while you’re lying down,” says Dr. Creticos. “Prop your bed up and elevate the pillow to prevent the dripping, and take an antacid before bedtime to cut down on your stomach’s acidity.”

Stay out of the deep freeze.

You open the front door. step outside, and get hit with a blast of arctic air. What can you do? “Stay indoors when it’s cold outside,” says allergist Sidney Friedlaender, M.D., who is clinical professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Buy a large scarf.

If staying indoors isn’t possible, however, make sure you keep your mouth and nose covered when going outdoors. “Cold air can trigger asthma, but when you have a scarf or mask covering your mouth and nose, you end up breathing in warm, humid air,” says

Don’t go to Arizona for relief.

“A warm, dry climate will help you, but finding the perfect climate isn’t as easy as it used to be. The arid area of Arizona was once a haven for asthmatics. but that’s not necessarily so anymore,” says Dr. Friedlaender. The environment there has changed over the years since urbanization and irrigation. “Now you have things introduced into the air that weren’t there 25 years ago. so people who have asthma frequently have as much trouble there, and sometimes even more.”