Busting myths about asthma

MAY marked Asthma Awareness Month, and alarmingly, South Africa has one of the highest asthma death rates in the world, with around 15 000 deaths each year.

In a bid to further educate South Africans on asthma to avoid unnecessary deaths, the Allergy Foundation of South Africa (Afsa) is busting five harmful myths about the disease.

Myth 1: It’s better to ‘tough it out’ without taking medication:

The lungs do not get stronger or become better able to deal with asthma if a person tries to work through an attack without medication. In fact, the lung inflammation that goes along with an attack, can cause permanent damage to the lungs. Always use medication to treat asthma.

Myth 2: Sports and physical activity make asthma worse:

Physical activity, and the health benefits that come with it, should be part of everyone’s life, including those with asthma. Asthma should not interfere with physical activity and if you are having problems with exercise it means your asthma is not well controlled and you need to check that you are taking the right medications, and taking them correctly.

Myth 3: Asthma can be treated with alternative medicines:

Asthma is caused by inflammation in the lungs. No alternative, folk or traditional medicines can treat inflammation. If you do feel that alternative medicines help your asthma, keep using your controller pumps as well, to make sure that the inflammation doesn’t come back.

Myth 4: Asthma pumps are dangerous:

Many scientific studies have shown asthma medications to be safe over long periods of use. Asthma pumps do not weaken the heart and are not addictive.

The corticosteroids in asthma medicines are not the same as the often-illegal steroids used by some athletes and have no effect on muscles or athletic performance. They are related to the steroids found in creams to reduce itch or inflammation of the skin.

Myth 5: If my asthma medication is not helping, I need to increase my dose:

Asthma devices are difficult to use. Even with the best technique possible, only a small amount of the medication gets into the lungs. Most problems with asthma are not because the person has been prescribed the wrong medication but because they are not using them as often as they should or with the best possible technique.

For more information, visit www. allergyfoundation.co.za