(upbeat electronic music) - Are you okay?
- What's wrong?
- I feel tightness in my chest and I can't breathe very well.
(coughing) I can't stop coughing.
- What were you doing?
- I was playing soccer outside and at the end
I started feeling weak and tired,
and now I just can't stop coughing,
and it's getting and harder, and harder for me to breathe.
- There are few things as scary as not being able to breathe,
and when someone is having a severe asthma attack,
that is the exact feeling, the gasping for breath, the
tightening of the chest.
Many asthma sufferers describe it as feeling
like a pillow is being held over their face.
Well today we're gonna talk about
how to treat and manage asthma.
Joining me for this very important discussion
is Tonya Winders, President and CEO of
Allergy & Asthma Network, good morning.
- Good morning, thank you for having me.
- Thanks for being here.
This is really important for so many parents.
And I know that was video, dramatic,
but I've seen it, and it's pretty intense.
It's frightening.
- It is.
You know there are 22 million Americans
currently living with asthma, and 5 to 10% of those
have a unique type of asthma called severe asthma.
And our understanding of asthma has actually
evolved quite a bit, but it can be life threatening
and extremely frightening.
- So it's a lot more common then people think?
- [Tonya] Yes, asthma actually happens
to about one in 10 people here in the US,
and unfortunately about 10 people die
every day due to asthma.
In fact the numbers are growing, globally we know that
over 400 million people will have asthma by 2025.
- Let's talk about what happens Tonya, in the lungs.
What is causing it?
- So when a patient is actually experiencing
an asthma flare or an asthma attack, they'll often say,
actually what's happening is that their airways
are closing up, they're constricting.
But there's also inflammation in those airways,
and it's that inflammation that creates mucus
and clogs those airways, and then also causes them to close.
- And there are several types of asthma.
In fact, maybe two?
- Actually there are many types of asthma.
- Many, okay, - So we once,
- Some are mild, more severe.
- Yes, so we once thought that asthma was a single disease,
but now as science has evolved, we understand that it's
a spectrum of disease, mild, moderate, and severe,
and even within that severe end of the spectrum,
that there are up to, at least four,
but up to probably eight or maybe even 20 different types.
- Wow, now I know there are many treatments out there,
and I'm gonna personalize, my younger one,
she had a lot of wheezing, croup,
you know the uh, uh, - That seal bark.
- That seal bark, yes, (speaking foreign language)
as we say in Spanish.
(speaking foreign language) And the first line of treatment
they would give her is steroids.
- Yes, oral steroids probably right?
- [Olga] Oral, yes.
- And you know oral steroids work.
They are inexpensive products that work very quickly,
- Immediately.
- To stop that inflammation.
And they're very useful for some patients,
but if you're getting oral steroids
more then two times a year, then that's a cause
for a red flag.
That's the time that you should actually stop
and think about how uncontrolled your asthma truly is,
and perhaps have a discussion about other types of treatment
that may be more appropriate.
Because while those steroids are effective,
they actually have pretty severe side effects.
So oral steroids in the short term can make you moody,
or have sleep disruptance, but in the long term,
it can cause weight gain.
It actually can cause diabetes, or glaucoma, or osteoporosis.
So a lot of different diseases and side effects from
overuse of oral steroids.
- So what are other treatment options for parents
or people that want to stay away from steroids?
- Yeah, so again, inhaled steroids, very
important mainstay in asthma treatment, but oral
steroids are actually 10 times more potent, so that's the
steroid that we're talking about is the oral steroid.
And for those patients that are having ER visits,
hospitalizations, or using more then two bursts
of oral steroids, there are now new treatments.
There are targeted therapies that are out there.
We can actually test in the breath
and the blood for patients to determine
what the biomarkers are, and what treatments
those individual patients may respond most likely to.
- Which is good, because it's an individualized treatment
for that person, as opposed to just treating it
as a one size fits all.
- Absolutely.
- So parents and patients really need to be educated.
It's very important, and I know you've created
a wonderful campaign, an awareness campaign if you will.
It's called Shared Decision Making Tool, tell me about it.
- Yes, so the Allergy & Asthma Network has partnered
with the Chest Foundation and the American College
of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology,
to develop a shared decision making tool.
It's an interactive online tool that actually asks
patients their preferences, and their values, and then
helps to tailor and target the discussion between the
patient and their provider to get to the best
possible treatment option for that individual patient.
- So it's very personalized, if you will.
- Yes.
- That's fantastic.
Alright, for our viewers who'd like more information
on the website where can they go Tonya?
- You can visit AllergyAsthmaNetwork.org
or Asthma.Chestnet.org, or of course just go
to the Balancing Act, where you'll see the
links for both of those.
- Fantastic, you're the best.
- Thank you.
- You could be a host, I appreciate it.
And of course like she said, check out our website,
TheBalancingAct.com.
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