The Fl
orida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists know Memorial Day means attending picnics, community events, camping and other outdoor activities!
We understand you and your loved ones are anticipating an upcoming holiday of sunshine and family time.
Stop!
Before you pack and get your car serviced for your three day Memorial Day holiday, we want you to think about the family member who might be badly surprised with an asthma attack .
This article is our FLASS official alert to be cautious about unforeseen Florida summer asthma and allergy triggers.
James Sublett, MD, chair of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, stated, “Although symptoms may not always be severe, summertime allergies and asthma are serious and, in some cases, deadly.”
Whereas it is true that a sudden asthma attack is not a nice summer surprise, your asthmatic friend or family member should not be discouraged about an outdoorsy Memorial Day or the coming summer season, or enjoying outdoor fun. How can you prevent fear and discouragement?
Asthma Attacks Can Ruin a Memorial Day Outing!
Here at FLASS, we borrow the Boy Scout saying “Be Prepared!” How? First, be sure your asthmatic friend or family member sees a specialist. At Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists, we believe a proper asthma treatment plan means so much more than relieving symptoms.
How to treat your child or other loved one who wheezes and coughs during outdoor excursions should not be a guessing game. The medicines you use should not be over-the-counter-inhalers. A specialist can help you and your loved one identify asthma or allergy triggers.
Then, after testing, proper medicines can be prescribed, and proper precautions can be taken. You must learn about asthma triggers, and they can be different in every case. Likewise, summer and the Florida climate bring special triggers with them. These are common triggers, and we discuss a few of them below on our official trigger list of warnings.
Trigger Number 1: Summer Fruits and Vegetables
A drippy peach, a mouth-watering melon, a sticky strawberry, crunchy celery or even a crispy, ruby red apple can cause a person who already has grass allergies to have an allergic oral reaction. “People with common grass allergies can also have this condition, which is a cross-reaction between similar proteins in certain fruits and vegetables and the allergy-causing grass, tree, or weed pollens.”
This type of reaction can be worrisome but it is not typically dangerous. The patient usually learns to avoid that lovely summer fruit or vegetable.
On the other hand, if the reaction is disturbing, seeing an asthma specialist to identify the appropriate allergen can lead to discovery relief.
Trigger Number 2: Sudden Memorial Day Weather
As our Florida evening descends on your Memorial Day camp grou
nd, soggy humidity strikes and asthma patients begin to wheeze. The same thing can happen at a seaside cottage where the twilight breezes blow mold from the docks through the open windows.
However, with a treatment plan from doctors like those at Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists, asthmatics can be armed with personalized action plans that allow them to cope fairly easily with rapid weather changes.
Trigger Number 3: Evil Summer Insects
Seldom is there a picnic that doesn’t suffer a few uninvited guests of the six-legged variety.
It is quite possible for a person to have a severe reaction to stings from honeybees, wasps, hornets and fire ants. Chances are, your allergist will tell you to cover your arms and legs if you are outdoors. Other good ideas for avoiding insects and their stingers are:
Do not wear bright colors. (Like a flower, you will draw in insects!)
Do not wear perfume. (Again, you do not want to attract insects!)
Be careful to make sure your cup, or that paper-plate of sweet frosted cake doesn’t have a buzzing little “hitch-hiker. (Be especially careful with sweet soda cans.)
Your asthma specialist can give you skin tests to figure out what insects might be dangerous for you. He might advise you to carry an “epipen.” This is an automatic, easily administered emergency dose of epinephrine which could be life-saving in an emergency insect situation.
Trigger Number 4: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes—and Lungs!
In the blaze and glow of a campfire, making s’mores and roasting hot-dogs seems like an innocent activity. Asthmatics, beware! Smoke is a known asthma trigger. You can avoid an attack if you simply sit upwind of the fire, and just do not sit too close.
Trigger Number 5: Chlorine Aggravation
Technically no one believes that chlorine is a specific allergen. However, it does typically emit a very strong odor. Such smells can be irritating and an asthma flare-up can occur.
Ultimately, the doctors and staff of Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists reassure their asthma patients that learning their triggers, taking precautions and taking their medicine can support almost a normal appreciation of holidays like Memorial Day. We have mentioned some common outdoor triggers, but remember, every case is individual.
One person’s trigger is not necessarily another person’s trigger. That is also the reason every one of the Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialist’s asthma treatment plans are customized.
Just be cautious about Florida summer asthma triggers, like campfires and chlorine, fruits and vegetables, and sudden changes in the weather.
A Very Special Memorial Day Message from Florida Lung, Asthma, and Sleep Specialists
We would also be remiss if we did not remind you that this holiday represents more than the beginning of summer. It a
lso commemorates the lives of American soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect American freedom.
We take a moment—and these few words below to appreciate our brave military heroes. We leave you with a heart-felt quotation for a moment of Memorial Day meditation:
“Yet, we must try to honor them—not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.”
–Quote from Ronald Reagan’s Remarks at Memorial Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery
May 31, 1982
