That's Fit

If you have a child with asthma, you might already know that fitness is especially important -- it can help improve childhood asthma. And with summer approaching, you might be thinking about swimming. It's a great physical activity, and kids love it, so you're set, right?

Not so fast. A recent article by Claire McCarthy, M.D., of Harvard Medical School urges parents to take caution with their asthmatic children when it comes to swimming. While the activity itself helps to strengthen their lungs -- and swimming is one form of fitness that's less likely to cause asthma symptoms -- there is one problem. The chlorine.

The article cites a study done in Belgium, where "children who swam as infants in chlorinated swimming pools were more likely to have asthma later in childhood. It appeared that the chlorine may have damaged the lining of the lungs."

Before my father was retired he had to wake up at 3 a.m. for work. After retirement, his early morning habit proved hard to break. Subsequently, the afternoons would inevitably find him snoozing on his recliner. Without fail, as soon as he'd hit a deep sleep he'd let out a massive snort, wake himself up, and grumble at my mom and I for "waking him up."
My dad's afternoon snoring puts him in the company of many others. How about you? Do you snore, too? Revolution Health offers some tips on snoring. Snoring is caused by a narrowing of the throat due to congestion, enlarged tonsils, or other issues. Conditions like asthma and obesity can also cause or exacerbate snoring. Contrary to what some might believe, snoring doesn't necessarily mean you have sleep apnea. But if you feel your snoring is excessive, it's a good idea to check with your doctor.

You can minimize your snoring by changing up some of your sleep routines. Try sleeping on your side and avoiding alcohol and smoking before bedtime. Also, if you have some weight to lose, dropping excess pounds will likely help your snoring. You can also see your doctor for other possible solutions such as a mouthpiece designed to minimize snoring.

Want to learn more? Chris tells us how excessive snoring may signal a health risk.

Don't you love it when people tell you not to stress out? Sometimes, stress is just out of your control and no amount of people telling you, "Relax ..." is going to make you actually do so. So forgive me for the following:

A recent study found that women who experience stressful events during pregnancy may bear children who are predisposed to allergies and asthma. The study found that babies of moms who reported three or more highly stressful events during pregnancy had increased levels of IgE in their cord blood. Elevated IgE levels are associated with the development of allergies and asthma.

The children in this study will be followed for five years to find if they actually do develop allergies at a higher rate than other children.

Obviously, stress is something we all try to avoid. In this study, many of the issues that caused stress were situations that are difficult to overcome, such as financial, marital, or health issues. So while I'm not going to tell you to "relax," I am going to remind you that during pregnancy, your body is already under a lot of stress. Cutting yourself a break will protect your health and your baby's too, potential future allergy problems aside.

I keep an albuterol inhaler in my bedroom and another in my purse. That way, I figure I'm covered if I have an asthma attack. One of my inhalers is an old, generic, CFC (chloroflourocarbon) type that has yet to hit its expiration date, while the other is ProAir, a CFC-free HFA inhaler. If I have an attack at home, I always reach for the older, CFC inhaler. Why? Because it feels like it works better.

According to the NYT, I'm not alone. Though I'm all for changes being made to improve the environment (CFCs destroy the ozone layer), I'll admit that transitioning to CFC-free inhalers hasn't been easy. HFA inhalers (like ProAir and Ventolin) have a softer spray, which can lead people to believe they aren't working. (Studies show they work just as well as CFC type inhalers.) They are also more expensive because there are not yet generics available.

Are you one of the 1/3 of Americans who live in a smoggy city? Smog -- a heavy, dark fog primarily composed of ozone -- can trigger asthma symptoms, cause coughing, chest pain, wheezing, or even premature death. The top 10 smoggiest cities are:

• Los Angeles, CA. The air quality is slowing improving in LA, but, on average, it still has 90 days per year with unhealthy ozone levels.
• Bakersfield, CA. Bakersfield has an average of 83 days with unhealthy ozone levels each year, as well as other air quality issues.
• Visalia, CA. Lying near Sequoia National Forest, Visalia has an average of 68 high ozone days per year.
• Houston, TX. Nearly 400,000 Houston residents have asthma -- a condition that can be exacerbated by the city's average of 36 unhealthy ozone days per year.
• Fresno, CA. In 2000, Fresno had 87 unhealthy ozone days. Now, the city is averaging only 34 unhealthy ozone days per year -- still high enough to land it in the top 10, but amazing progress.
• Sacramento, CA. The fifth city from California's Central Valley to make the list, Sacramento has an average of 25 unhealthy ozone days per year.
• Dallas, TX. Dallas has an average of 22 unhealthy ozone days per year.
• New York, NY. With such a constant flow of traffic, it's almost surprising that New York doesn't have more than an average of 12 unhealthy ozone days per year.
• Washington DC/Baltimore. Our capitol region has an average of 11 unhealthy ozone days per year.
• Baton Rouge, LA. Baton Rouge averages 11 unhealthy ozone days per year.
  

Because I have asthma, and because it interferes with my ability to exercise, I'm constantly on the look out for new diet and environment-based ways to reduce my symptoms. I'm on a good regimen of medications and starting last winter, immunotherapy. I know that a healthy lifestyle will complement those things and possibly help reduce the amount of medication I have to take.

I was surprised recently to learn that a high-salt diet has been linked to exercise-induced asthma. When researchers put a group of asthmatics on a high-salt diet, their airway functions declined significantly and rapidly. This is important, because Americans, whose asthma rates are climbing, have been turning away from fresh, natural foods and toward processed boxed and frozen goods that are loaded with sodium. I'll definitely be watching the salt in my diet much more closely from now on.

Men's Health recently listed the 20 saltiest foods in America. Though these aren't the only foods to avoid if you're cutting sodium, they're definitely at the top of the list! Check out AOL Body for more low-sodium tips.

How do you limit the amount of sodium in your diet?

If you'd describe your sleep lately as "crappy," you have no idea how correct you are in your word choice. That's because, on average, ten percent of the weight of a two-year-old pillow is attributable to dust mites and their droppings.

Yes, that's right, ladies and gentlemen, we're sleeping on crap. And, it's not just on our pillows that mites seem to enjoy so much; mattresses are veritable party clubs for dust mites, gathering anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million of these tiny suckers inside. What is it these intrepid invaders want from us? Our dead skin. You're feeling itchy right now just thinking about it, aren't you?

Because dust mites are responsible for many cases of asthma, eczema, and many allergy problems, it's a good idea to either replace your old bed and pillow or wash them thoroughly with hot water as often as you can.

Based on a six-year study of 9,000 children, German researchers have stated that having dogs may reduce a child's risk of developing allergies. In theory, exposure to pet-related allergens builds ups a child's immunity and helps reduce risk of allergies, asthma, eczema, and hay fever.

The study used parents' answers on detailed surveys from birth to age six. Blood samples were also taken from a number of participants to test for antibodies in the blood stream.

The same protective effect was not noted in children with repeated exposure to dogs, but without dogs in their home.

Special mattress pads, allergen-reducing fabric sprays, air filters, and so forth ... if you have asthma you may have invested lots of money in products such as these. Dust mites can be a big asthma trigger, and trying to minimize them is a good way to reduce asthma episodes. But a research group has determined that many of the special efforts people take to reduce allergens and dust mites aren't effective enough to make a difference.

Previous studies have reviewed both physical and chemical allergen reducers. The research group reviewed 54 studies. They found that, while many products were ineffective, others did reduce allergens as advertised -- but not enough to ward off an asthma attack.

If you currently own special products such as fancy vacuum cleaners, air filters, and mattress pads, feel free to keep using them. Many do reduce allergens, though they aren't effective enough to make much of a difference. A good habit to get into is washing sheets, blankets, and pillows often using high temperatures. Also, remove soft toys from your child's bed.

Though he claims he never had allergies before moving here to my hometown 10 years ago, my husband came home after a recent allergy test with a sheet filled with items that he reacted to. While I doubt all of his allergies cropped up in the last decade, I do know that our area is bad for people who suffer respiratory illnesses. Though we have no intentions of moving, if we ever do, air quality will definitely be on my list of things to consider.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recently named the worst cities for allergy sufferers in America. They ranked their cities by pollen counts, medication usage, and the number of board certified allergists per patient.

The top five include:

• Lexington, KY
• Greensboro, NC
• Johnson City, TN
• Augusta, GA
• Jackson, MS
  

Spring is a notorious time for allergy sufferers. Learn more about prevention and treatment at AOL Body's allergy center.

Looking for a fun way to support your favorite cause? FiveHumans makes fashionable t-shirts with hip designs, all based on common diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and even autism.

Their goal is to raise awareness about these conditions and to also raise a little cash for research. For instance, if you buy one of their asthma tees, 10% of the purchase price is donated to the American Lung Association.

The company hopes to expand their designs to include Alzheimer's, and then branch out into other causes such as hunger, global warming, and homelessness. Read more about FiveHumans and the humans behind the scenes here.

For several days now, I've been writing an ongoing series of diet and fitness posts titled "Why the Pounds Are Sticking Around," which are a collection of tips sourced from the health magazine Self. Since the response has been so positive, I decided to forge ahead with an idea I had for a series of healthy living posts. Since exercise and training are more my forte, I sought out information from an outside source -- Men's Health magazine. To that end, I found ten great health and wellness tips that I thought would be perfect for pieces on healthy living.

So, just as I have been doing with the diet and fitness posts, I will also be posting one healthy living tip per day as part of a series I think I'm going to call "Living Well." I think you'll find these tips to be as interesting and as helpful as I did.

Healthy Tip #10 - Do away with the spray

Do you, or someone in your household, suffer from asthma? If so, you probably take steps to avoid an attack. Well, here's one more you can take: Stop using household spray cleaners.

An international longitudinal study has revealed a link between common household cleaning sprays to an increased risk of asthma attack in adults. The researchers found that using household spray cleaners as infrequently as once a week is enough to raise the risk of an asthma attack by 76 percent. What's more, the risk became even greater if cleaning sprays were used more than that.

Popular asthma drug Singulair has come under scrutiny recently after reports of suicidal behavior, suicide, and mood changes among patients who are using the drug. Merck says that none of the patients in clinical trials reported these types of problems, but because it's such a serious issue, the FDA is investigating. Singulair's labels will be updated to inform patients of new side effects, including tremors, anxiousness, depression, and suicide.

Singulair contains the active ingredient montelukast. This drug blocks the action of leukotrienes, which are released as part of an allergic or inflammatory reaction and create swelling of the respiratory tract. It's prescribed to people whose asthma does not stay under good control with other medications, and sometimes to people who suffer nasal allergies.

There are things we all know we should do to live healthier lives. You know, get some exercise, eat lots of veggies, drink plenty of water, etc. However, a slideshow on MSN recently showed nine things we could all be doing to add some healthy years down the road. Some you might already be aware of, but I bet some will surprise you.

For example, of course you need get get enough sleep, but did you know too much can take years off your life? Or that sitting up straight isn't all it's cracked up to be? Are you aware of the effect household cleaners have on your chances of an asthma attack? Check out all nine tips on the slideshow and let me know -- did you learn something new?

It's a fact: most kids love sugar. Candy could be a food group all by itself for young children and teens, which goes a long way in explaining why certain asthmatic symptoms show up when a diet rich in sugar is consumed.

The theory behind the sugar and asthma connection comes from the Nestle Research Center of all places. Not a bad location to try testing this idea! What researchers found was that ingesting lots of sugar results in mucus production and narrowed airways due to inflammation.

In turn, asthmatic wheezing is produced. This priming of the immune system was a hypothesis presented by Dr. Sonja Kierstein. Testing began on mice, which reacted to the sugar much like kids (in other words, they couldn't get enough of it). By the end of the procedure, the sugar-fed mice had twice the airway inflammation as their tested counterparts. If you're interested in reading more, check out the report here.