They both have strep...

...and Bryn, the older one, is going for a CAT scan of his sinuses today.

Golly, this is going to be the best Christmas ever!

Quick update on the baby....

Okay, with respect to last week's post, the baby has....Acid Reflux. That right. Baby Awstin has joined the masses of infants on a daily dose of Zantac. Is that bizarre, or what?

In conjunction with his new meds, he's now being fed smaller meals more frequently. And, since I'm still nursing, I've had to go on a low-acid diet, complete with (GASP) reduced coffee intake. I was at two cups, maybe three a day max - perfectly within the limits recommended by La Leche League, mind you - but I've cut it down to one small cup a day. Barely enough to satisfy my cravings for my dark aromatic lover, yet still enough to keep the withdrawal migraines at bay.

While the Zantac will take another week or so to kick in, the baby has been vomiting less. He's still coughing a lot at night, though...so, in my eyes, it remains to be seen whether or not this is really Reactive Airway.

But I'll give it the full two weeks. I may be paranoid, but at least I'm patient. Occasionally rational, even.

Whistle Watch?

I was in CVS the other day and I saw this thing -- the Whistle Watch -- which, basically, is a peak-flow meter for preschoolers.

For $15, I'm going to give it a shot. I'll post the results. And if any of you, my dear readers, have tried this thing, please let me know your thoughts!

Steroids Key in Avoiding Hospitalization

Here's Health Day's latest yeah-we-knew-that news flash:

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A66489

According to the article, kids who miss one in four doses of their inhaled steroids are WAYYY more likely to end up in hospital.

And parents who let their kids miss one in four of their inhaled steroid doses deserve every last penny of those hospital bills.

A moment to bitch and moan...

...after all, that's why I started blogging, right?

My infant, now nearly 8 months old, has been suffering from something asthma-like for the past month or so. Snurfling through the night, coughing until he vomits, etc.

And while I'm unbelievably concerned for him - his long-term health *and* his comfort - my rant has to focus on this: I haven't had a full-night's sleep in at LEAST six weeks. I feel like utter poo. My sleep sensor is set to "light" since I need to be prepared to race in and rescue the baby the moment he starts couging. So I'm up at least once or twice a night, usually more frequently, for an hour or more.

So while the baby is wonderfully happy, sweet and peaceful throughout the day, I now feel (and look) a little bit like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

To the guys I work with: Good luck.

Helpful Asthma Info

This may seem really obvious, but those parents out there with asthmatic kids know how nebulous the definition of pediatric asthma can be.

Here's a helpful article straight from the CDC:

http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm

It's surprisingly clear and useful.

Tips for Breathing Through the Holidays

And so with probably TWO asthmatic children, I'll take these common sense tips to heart:

Breathing Easier Through the Holidays

Because once is never enough

Strike that last post about the poultry. When the baby puked up peaches and rice cereal, we realized poultry probably *wasn't* the problem. And when he spent the rest of the night coughing until the gagged, it seemed that something strangely familiar was happening.

A trip to the doctor Saturday morning left us with a prescription for Amoxicillan and the suggestion that it was probably a sinus infection...but it could be Reactive Airway. (Newbies: "Reactive Airway Disease" is the new noncommittal language pediatricians use to tell you your baby or toddler probably has asthma.)

As I've said: Strangely familiar.

After another Exorcist-esque episode and the realization that I had nothing on hand to relieve this violent cough, I paged the pediatrician again (I'm pretty fearless with the paging) to find out what the hell I should do until the Amox kicks in.

And she suggested my old friend, the nebulizer and some Albuterol.~ My turn to pull an Exorcist moment.

The good news/bad news finale to my story? The Albuterol (actually, Xopenex) worked like a dream. Fabulous that it worked so well -- he's a million times better.

And horrible that it worked so well. What we've basically got is a diagnostic test with positive results: the baby probably has asthma.

I'll be seeing my buddy the pulmonologist tomorrow to find out how dramatically I'm jumping to conclusions. But I think it's that mother's intuition. Sometimes we just know.

We'll see...

Happy Thanksgiving: Allergic to poultry?!

Yes, believe it or not -- My three-year-old is allergic to eggs, and we've just learned that our 8-month-old is allergic to poultry. Okay, it's not for sure that he's allergic, but he does seem to have an unnatural tendency to vomit an entire day's worth of food when he has it...so odds are....

We'll be taking him to an allergist next week to be sure.

Way to start the holidays, right? Ho, ho, *HACK!*

What every 3-year-old asthmatic wants to hear

Apparently, chocolate is the new codeine:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041122/hl_nm/health_britain_chocolate_dc

(When it comes to coughing, that is. When it comes to numbing pain...I think most women already knew this.)

Worry more about colds than pollution.

Rabinovitch said the study findings offer good news for parents of children with asthma.
"Instead of worrying about air pollution, they can focus their efforts on preventing and treating the real wintertime threat to their children's health -- colds and other respiratory infections," Rabinovitch said.

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A65309

...but the fact is, with pre-schoolers, it's probably easier to protect them from pollution than it is to protect them from colds!

More good news for us regular folks....

If you're like me and more or less forced to mail order your kid's maintenance meds, here's some great news:

Extreme Heat Can Degrade Mail-Order Drugs

It's so reassuring to know that, not only is it next-to-impossible to know whether or not you have any medication left in the MDI, now you can't even be sure if the stuff's any good!

Another (yawn!) New Study

Yes, it's all very important and it appears in the current edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, but how can it help my three-year-old this winter?

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A64346

Honestly, I'm glad that big pharma's actually allocated funds to something other than arthritis medications that cause heart attacks; I'm just too tired and cranky to even read the whole article tonight.

File THAT under obvious...

Okay, the methodology is cool, but did it take a study to tell us that pollution and second hand smoke can lead to asthma?

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A63964

And, hey, can someone get me a subscription to Chest magazine for the holidays?

Demand MDI Reform Now!

Anyone reading this blog on a regular basis knows that I am, shall we say, disenchanted with pharmaceutical companies on the whole. Here's just another twig to add to the fire:

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A63909

This health day article focuses on how most families make errors when administering medication via MDIs -- largely (and most seriously) because, as we parents of asthmatics know, there's no accurate way to tell how much is left in the damned canister!!

It's one thing with Flovent -- four puffs a day from a 120-dose MDI is easy enough to estimate. But with Albuterol, which is given only as needed, and for which I have several MDIs.... well, unless I take a razor-pointed Sharpie and make a little checkmark on the case every time I use it, I'll never know how much is left.

I've been using the flotation method (mentioned in above article) to determine whether the MDIs are empty, but apparently that's both inactive AND dangerous. Who knew?

So - my point (and yes, I do have one) is that big pharma should really stop putting up funds for high-tech gas treatments (I mean, what the hell is GERD, anyway? And aren't Gaviscon and Mylanta good enough for most people?) and come up with an MDI that actually tells you that it's empty. That way asthmatics can either stop wasting money by throwing away still-useful MDIs (and for those of you who don't know, Flovent costs about $200/month) or putting themselves at risk by sucking on empty canisters -- and not getting the medication they need.

Sibling Study is CONFUSING

Have a look at this: Having Siblings Cuts Asthma Risk

There are a few things I'm not understanding: If asthma risk is greater in kids born July-December than in kids born January-March, how does the risk for kids born March-July measure up?

If the risk is reduced for children who have siblings, why is the risk increased if a sibling is already asthmatic? Is the risk only reduced for multiples or people who *didn't* already have asthma in their families? Wasn't the latter group already at a reduced risk?

The study also puts at higher risk "if their primary-care provider was a pediatrician." Ummm....who should the primary-care provider for my preschoolers be? A pulmonologist?

AsthmaMoms.com

Hooray! I've found a new resource -- and it's LOCAL! Check it out: http://www.asthmamoms.com.

Yo, don't believe the hype.

Okay - has the wold gone nuts? Why is everyone freaking out about the flu vaccine shortage? I can't believe this has actually become a campaign issue now. Can you not see how strong the pharma lobbies have gotten?

Seriously, I have *never* gotten a flu vaccine. First off, it wasn't even offered to me until a few years ago. Secondly, when it was, it was understood that the vaccine couldn't and wouldn't cover all strains and mutations of the virus. With so many strains of flu every year, why bother? And won't a vaccine just cause a resiliant virus to mutate further?

Which brings me to why I won't get the vaccine -- or give it to my kids. The number one reason? It's made with thimerosal, a mercury-based binding. (See Wikipedia on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimerosal) Thimerosal has been linked in some studies the enormous surge in autisim over the past few years.

Another reason, Asthmatic Bryn (who, by the way, can't get the shot because he's allergic to eggs) got the flu last year. And it developed into pneumonia (natch). And guess what? The nasty strain he got would not have been covered by the vaccine.

So, by giving him the shot, I would have put him at risk by taking him unnecessarily to the doctors office where, undoubtedly other sick kids would be running around, and at risk(small risk, granted) for autism. And he would have gotten the flu/pneumonia anyay.

But to my original point, when did the flu become so incredibly dangerous that we all need an annual vaccination? Isn't this just pharmaceutical companies capitalizing on the SARS scare?

Or am I just a paranoid, fanatical lunatic?

If you're living under a rock....

...you might not know that there will probably be a flu shot shortage:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20041005/ap_on_he_me/flu_vaccine_suspension

So, if you're up for a thimerasol fix, better get a move on.

What the heck is a TREG?

http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A63315

Apparently, we've found the cause of Asthma. And it's got a really funny name.

Peds Asthma NOT Caused by Allergens

But we knew this, right? There was that study -- I think it was Australian? -- that showed that kids who grew up on farms and/or around dander-producing animals actually had a lower instance of asthma.

Anyway, here's the link: http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A63466

Whew. What a month.

So, naughty me...too long a lapse between posts again.

Meanwhile, Bryn's just (hopefully) recovering from what's essentially been a six-week long attack. Brutal. It started with mild cold symptoms that persisted for about two weeks. Dr. W and assumed this was another sinus infection, so we did another course of Augmentin.

...and no recovery. The slight cough he'd had became a bad cough, and his teachers reported coughing fits after exercise at school. That was new -- we'd never seen exercise-induced asthma before.

The cold symptoms disappeared, but the cough got worse during weeks 4-5, and he was often so short of breath, he couldn't get through a short sentence without 3-4 breaths.

So, we started doing DuoNeb or Combivent every eight hours, alternating with Albuterol. And when that didn't help too much, we started doing it twice as often.

Man! Can I tell you what it's like having a 3-year-old pumped up on Albuterol and Combivent? I should have just handed him a large (Venti, whatever...) Starbucks French Roast. The results probably would have been similar. The poor kid was so wired, he couldn't sit still. His teacher at preschool didn't know what to do with him. I just kept him as busy and active as I could.

Today, he's finally seeming a bit better, so I took him off the Combivent. That stuff's just EVIL. I know it works, but Lord Almighty -- I hope I never have to use it again (but I know I will). And Lord help us all if he's got to be on that and Orapred at the same time. It will be like living with the Tasmanian Devil!

Shock! Pharmaceutical companies admitting a link?

Can it be? J&J's BabyCenter.com admits there may be a link between vaccinations and asthma:

http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babyills/babyvaccine/11755.html

Surely corporate just didn't realize what editorial was up to!

To the pulmologist...

So here's the state of the family as we head into the Labor Day weekend: I have shingles -- bizarre as it gets for an otherwise healthy 33-year-old. (Granted, moving, nursing, starting a new job and not getting enough sleep are probably *a little bit* to blame -- but I was never was so fragile before.)

Bryn's now two weeks into a bout of congestion, which probably means another sinus infection, at the very least. Poor guy. Over the last two weeks, we've seen the following symptoms:

• Congestion
• Shortness of breath after activities requiring little effort
• Spells of poor appetite
• Night waking
• Inexplicable crankiness and/or tantrums
• Sporadic, dry coughing
• Pallor

I often wonder how many of these symptoms are in my head, but two weeks of mispronouncing "n" and "m" are indisputable.

So...it's off to the pulmonologist. I'll feel better (or, possibly, terrified) when I see his pulse-ox numbers. Admittedly, I may also feel incredibly foolish (and elated) if she listens to his chest and hears nothing.

Life will be just *that* much easier when he's old enough to use a peak flow meter. For now, I sure wish I could get one of those little pulse-ox finger meters!

Oh, SURE....

This is great. I'm sure I can dust, mop and vacuum every day -- and work, and take care of the baby, and cook....

Check it out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47827-2004Aug30.html?nav=rss_health

I mean, I want Bryn to get better, but I might need some time to support the family, too! (And sleep...)

New year, new asthma?

I just got off the phone with Pat, the head nurse for our pulmonologist. As I was talking to her, it occured to me -- Bryn (thank goodness) hasn't really been sick since he had pneumonia this winter. I haven't had to treat a serious attack since then.

But since the winter, he's become a different boy. Suddenly, he can articulate his thoughts and feelings (to some extent, anyway), he's potty-trained, he's just more mature.

So a lot of the signs I associate with his attacks aren't necessarily valid anymore. He may not open and close doors the way he used to. He never did wheeze. He may not even act as cranky as he did with previous attacks. So how will I know when an attack is brewing?

Pat recommends plotting things on a calendar: he was pale today; he coughed three times; he didn't eat; he was cranky. Next day: Ate breakfast; cranky before bed; coughed once.

Etc., Etc.

Not a bad idea. It does all sort of go mish-mashy in my brain after a while. I know he's had mild cold symptoms since last Wednesday, but was he cranky? I remember that he barely ate all weekend, but I can't remember how his cough sounded.

So...plotting it on a calendar seems the way to go. Guess I'll have to start acting a little more "Type A" now.

More specifically...

Check out this article on how stupid parents like me waste money on pointless attempts to relieve our kids' asthma: http://www.healthdiaries.com/2004/08/nose-cream-for-allergies-parents.htm

Another Good Resource

Thanks, Technorati, for this one: http://www.healthdiaries.com/allergy-news.htm

What's a Buteyko?

Check this out: http://asthmajournal.blogspot.com/.

Apparently, there are these breathing exercises you can do that seem to strengthen the lungs and bronchial system. Pretty wild.

I won't be taking Bryn off his steroids in favor of this -- yet! Until he can tell me how he's feeling and/or use a peak flow meter so we can actually see how well he's breathing, we'll probably keep him where he is. After all, he's been doing pretty well on the reduced dosage of Flovent.

Maybe we'll even be able to take him off it next summer. Keep your fingers crossed.

This is so sad...

...and so frightening: Tragedy: Asthma Kills Girl, 12

I didn't think I'd see stories like this. I have a million questions: Was she in treatment? Did they try a rescue inhaler? Did she have allergies, as well, or was her asthma triggered by viruses? Or aerosols?

Obviously, it doesn't get worse than this. My heart goes out to that poor girl's family.

Arrrggh! Stale again!

Good God! I've let this thing sit again! Bad blogger. Bad, Bad, Bad!

In truth, no news is good news. If I'm not posting, you can pretty safely assume that asthma issues are the furthest thing from my mind.

Which means there's a healthy, happy three-year-old boy running riot somewhere in New Jersey.

But wait -- there's more!

My RSV theory is confirmed in that article I just linked to. Look:

A major branch of the study has shown that children with a small difference in their lungs caused by something before or just after birth makes them more susceptible to asthma.
Dr. Martinez has found that children that develop respiratory infections such as bronchialitis and pneumonia at a very young age or before birth started life with lungs that were different, and they are predisposed to develop asthma.

He said that if mothers smoke or the child is born prematurely, they are at a greater risk of developing these infections. Preventing these infections early in life is easier than trying to erase the asthma.

So it WAS the RSV, most likely. In most other kids, it would have just presented as a cold. But for some reason, although he wasn't born prematurely, Bryn was susceptible to bronchial ailments. (He'd had a mishandled bronchiolitis just after his first birthday.)

Right. More research to be done, Mama.

I'm right AGAIN

Somehow, it's made the news again today that kids *usually* don't outgrow asthma --

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/97/159/01_2.html

...but we already knew that, didn't we?

Told ya so...

Asthma Needs Right Treatment
 
...and here's my thought on this: not only must you have a great relationship with your doctor, you also have to read everything. You can't only trust your doctor - s/he's not going to know everything. Take responsibility for taking care of yourself and/or your child and your treatment.

Here's today's biggie...

The Asthma-Obesity Connection
Could Link Explain Why Some Kids Don't Outgrow Asthma as Previously Believed?

Glad it works on mice, but....

Singapore scientists develop asthma vaccine

Gotta hear Allison's comments on this one. (For those of you visiting, Allison is my best friend and a Chiropractor -- therefore, notoriously anti-vaccine. But considering her love for Bryn, her thoughts on the subject will be pretty intriguing!)

My thoughts -- can we test it on something larger than a mouse before hailing it as a cure? (Although the thought of animal testing turns my stomach...)

And: Using a dust mite gene? How does that affect kids like Bryn who developed asthma after two bouts of bronchiolitis? His asthma isn't necessarily dust or allergy related.

Do we need a more comprehensive definition of asthma here?

Hah!!!

Asthma Often Does Not Go Away as Kids Get Older

I know everyone just thinks I'm being horribly negative when I say, "Actually, he probably won't outgrow his asthma..." but see? See? It's true!!!

Our pulmonologist has told me this a thousand times, and even my own husband doesn't believe it. The truth is, when you have a "tricky" respiratory system, it just stays tricky. But treating asthma aggressively within the first few years of diagnosis can really help the resp sys grow healthier over time. Which means that Bryn probably won't be on Flovent forever. By the time he's a teenager, he'll probably just need to carry Albuterol around, "just in case."

So while this headline isn't the best news in the world -- I would rather have seen a headline saying, "Asthma DOES Go Away as Kids Get Older" -- it's nice to have some substantiation for my comments.

Bad, bad blogger!

A full week gone by, and not a single post! Blame it on the holiday...

News for today, we're lowering Bryn's Flovent dose to 1 puff of 220, twice a day. That's half his usual dose.

We tried this last month, and he developed a cough within a week. Hopefully, we'll have better luck this time.

I'll post some *real* news tomorrow...

Big Duhs for the Day

Child Asthma Link to Passive Smoking

Study: RSV can increase risk of asthma

Study Links Gas Fumes and Incidence of Asthma Attacks

And this is news. Glad I'm on vacation.

The culture of daycare -- my newest scapegoat!

Just a thought -- I was going to dig a little into RSV as a possible cause of the Asthma outbreak. I mean, what the hell is RSV, anyway? Where was it when WE were kids? Was it just called "pneumonia" or "bronchitis" or "chest cold" then? Is it a new virus, or just a newly analyzed-and-renamed virus?

...but then it occurs to me that its this new culture of sticking your kids in daycare at 6 weeks of age that's probably to blame. (Yes, I know about the Australian study that showed lower incidence of asthma in daycare kids. But, hello, that's the other side of the freaking planet from here!)

Seriously, babies are meant to be with their mothers (or fathers)for the first few years. I'm a total feminist, but I absolutely believe that's true. They should be home -- not in virtual petrie dishes brimming with bacteria from other kids' snot. That's probably why so many kids are getting RSV (which, most of the time, presents like a cold) and why so many are, consequently, developing asthma.

Think about it -- most of us parents didn't leave home without our folks until age 3 or 4 for nursery school. How many of us have asthma? I knew one kid. That's it. Heck, I hadn't even heard of a nebulizer until my son got RSV.

Okay -- so that's it. I'm crucifying American culture now. It's not the daycare centers. It's US for creating the demand for them.

How does this explain the epidemic? (Today's Asthma News)

Asthma Emerging as Genetic Disorder

I'll skip the first few paragraphs, which outline the general background info -- asthma responsible for 14 million missed school days, growing epidemic, yada, yada, yada.

Here's the meat-and-potatoes (or TVP and cous-cous, in my case!):

Dr. Deborah Gentile, an asthma specialist at Allegheny General Hospital, in Pittsburgh, said immunologists are increasingly coming to understand asthma as a genetic disorder -- at least, in its beginnings. "We're thinking that there are different types of asthma driven by different genes."

A child with one parent who has asthma has a 30 percent chance of developing the airway condition herself. If both parents have it, her odds of getting it approach 70 percent -- not a given but a stacked deck.

Gentile said there are three factors that contribute to a person's risk of asthma. The first is the genetic legacy from parents; the second is exposure to infections and irritants that "program" the immune system and make it sensitive. The third is timing: It seems that the immune system is particularly sensitive during the first two years of life, Gentile said, so children with the right combination of genes and the right mix of exposures early in life are at the greatest risk of developing asthma.

skipping irrelevant stuff...."It's important to distinguish exposures that cause asthma versus those that exacerbate existing asthma," Camargo said. "Although these are, at times, the same, there are also factors that worsen existing asthma but are unlikely to cause disease," such as strong odors like perfumes, he said.

And you can find the whole article here: http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=519749

My thoughts: If I'm understanding the research correctly, this reinforces the theory that the bronchiolitis and RSV Bryn had suffered by 18 months probably DID cause his asthma -- in conjunction with his dad's history of severe allergies.

What it doesn't explain in the least is why asthma is reaching epidemic proportions...

This one's for Allison --

Oh, Al, PLEASE post a comment after reading this. It's going to piss you off so profoundly, you'll be shooting steam out of your ears for DAYS!!

A thought on pediatricians --

Anyone who knows me personally has heard me say this:

There have been days when I've taken Bryn to his regular pediatrician, she's listened to his chest and back and told me he sounds fine.

The same afternoon, I'll take the boy to his pulmonologist, she'll listen to him, and she'll tell me that he's *not* moving air well, and put him on either Duoneb or Orapred.

She tells me that there are subtleties to pediatric asthma that you have to really be trained to here. I've heard this from respiratory therapists in the Peds ER, too.

So, while I love, love, love our pediatrician, when it comes to Bryn's breathing, I always call the pulmonologist first.

After reading the "Camp Super Lungs" article, I wonder how many people just trust their pediatricians and *never* see a pulmonologist. Case in point: the kids photographed for the article, a brother and sister, are, well, pretty darned overweight. While I know this can happen when you spend a lot of time on steroids, obesity is probably a little bit of a hindrance when you're already having a hard time breathing. I imagine there are plenty of parents out there who are scared to let their kids run around if they're asthmatic -- but you should probably find out if that's one of your kid's triggers before condemning them to life as a couch potato. (I'm NOT saying that's the case with the kids in the photo.)

Another example -- we have friends whose pediatrician put their kid on Flovent, but only when he's having an attack. Now, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure inhaled corticosteroids are intended for LONG term use. I mean, do they even work in the short term? Our doc recently said something along the lines of, "a year of Flovent is like 5 days of Orapred." So I can't see that short-term use of Flovent does much good.

...So my thought to all the pediatricians out there: If you think a young patient of yours has asthma, PLEASE -- send them to a pulmonologist! I'm sure most insurance companies would cover a few visits.

Camp Super Lungs

Here's the headline: "Asthma camp teaches kids to manage illness." And it's called Camp Super Lungs. I'm kind of torn between wanting to send Bryn and being moderately disgusted by the whole idea of it.

The camp is sponsored by Summit Health, and it's intended to teach kids about their asthma. But I mean, if you have serious enough asthma to actually go to camp for it, shouldn't you also have a doctor who educates and supports you and your family?

Actually, it appears I *will* be ranting after all...

Check this out: Asthma drug may boost risk of deadly asthma attacks

That's the headline for another one of today's stories. "One of the most commonly prescribed medicines to treat America's 16 million asthmatics may actually make asthma worse and contribute to heart problems, two studies find."

When I first read this, I was (as you can imagine) a little upset. But then I read on: "Salpeter and her team reviewed studies conducted from 1966 to 2003 of asthmatics taking beta-agonists. They found that patients who took the drug daily developed a tolerance and had more inflammation in their lungs than those not taking the drug at all, making them more susceptible to a potentially deadly attack."

...which led me to ask, why would any asthmatic take Albuterol every day? Isn't it just for treatment during an attack? That's how it's been prescribed to us.

And then I remembered: Advair. The wonder drug that toddlers cannot take because it doesn't work with a spacer. Advair is a combination of Serevent (fast-acting bronchiodialator) and Flovent (corticosteroid).

So if you're taking Advair every day -- and you would do -- I'm guessing that you may be doing more harm than good? I haven't found any articles specifically implicating Advair, but, hey, this is just today's news.

That might be fodder for tomorrow's post.

Here's news I can't even rant about...

...except to say that I probably *shouldn't* live in suburban New Jersey with an asthmatic toddler. But, you know, I just moved, so packing up and heading to Arizona just doesn't seem appealing right now.

But what a drag: my first blog post, and I can't even drag my soap box out for a good lengthy rant.

Nevermind. I'm sure you'll hear plenty from me in the near future.

Here's the story -- and I might add that our pulmonologist could have told us all this:

TUESDAY, June 22 (HealthDayNews) -- Changes in weather may influence rates of asthma and eczema in children, says a study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The study of nearly 670,000 children concluded that season-to-season variations in temperature, humidity, altitude, and latitude all affected asthma and eczema rates.

Researchers at the University of Ulm, Germany, analyzed data collected between 1992 and 1996 from children ages 6-7 and ages 12-13 in more than 50 countries. The study found that, in Western Europe, every 10 percent increase in indoor humidity was associated with a 2.7 percent increase in asthma rates for both age groups.

House dust mites, a major allergen for asthmatics, thrive in moist air. Humidity also encourages the growth of mold, a possible respiratory irritant.

Lower rates of asthma were identified in areas where the average outdoor humidity drops below 50 percent for at least one month a year. Lower rates of asthma were also associated with higher altitude and greater seasonal temperature variations.

Higher rates of eczema were associated with increasing latitude, while lower eczema rates were associated with higher outdoor temperatures.

This link between climate and asthma and eczema suggests that climate change caused by global warming may influence rates of these diseases in the future, the study authors wrote.