COMBATING ASTHMA WITH EDUCATION (Part 1)

  • The new study of kids with asthma is working with 300 families in Detroit. In this clinic at the University of Michigan, the kids are tested to see how well they can breathe.

In the last 20 years, the occurrence of asthma has jumped dramatically in the United States. Researchers are trying to find out why, but first they’re trying to show families how to manage their children’s asthma before it kills them. In the first of a three-part series on asthma, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on a new study that’s helping some of those families while looking for the causes of their children’s asthma:

Transcript

In the last 20 years, the occurrence of asthma has jumped dramatically in the United
States. Researchers are trying to find out why – but first they’re trying to show families
how to manage their children’s asthma before it kills them. In the first of a three-part
series on asthma, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on a new
study that’s helping some of those families while looking for the causes of their
children’s asthma.

Nationwide between 1980 and 1994 the number of reported
asthma cases increased by 75-percent. In some states the
number of cases of asthma diagnosed in children has more
than doubled in five years. Children who live in urban areas
seem to be the most susceptible. In Detroit, the results of one
questionnaire revealed nearly one in five school children had
symptoms of asthma. Many of those cases go untreated.


Sylvester Foote remembers vividly his grandson Quinzell’s first serious asthma attack.

“I rushed him out there and took him to a doctor. Seemed like he
was getting ready (pause) to pass away! I mean, he was just gasping for air.
Very frightening. Very, very frightening.”

Sylvester Foote’s family is one of 300 families in the Detroit area that are participating in a project funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency.


The first part of the project is to try to educate people about asthma, and to help them reduce the things that trigger
asthma. It’s not known what exactly causes asthma. What is known is
a lot of the things that trigger asthma and many are found in
poverty-stricken, older, urban homes. Things such as cockroach feces,
allergens such as dust mites, and second-hand tobacco smoke can all cause asthma attacks. Katherine Edgren is a researcher at the University of Michigan who also
heads up community action against asthma. She says the
project starts where the children live.

“We’re actually going into the homes of families. We’ve done things
like give families a vacuum cleaner. Give them bedding covers to address
things like dust mites. And giving them cleaning supplies so they can deal
with some of these triggers. We’re also giving them information about
asthma, making referrals as necessary and giving them support and
information about asthma.”


Sylvester Foote says getting that information has meant some
changes in his house to try to protect Quinzell.


“Since I stopped having smoking in my home, he seems to have less
asthma attacks. I try to keep him away from grass cutting because that seems
to make him a little uncomfortable as far as his breathing is concerned. I
don’t do any kind of sweeping or dusting while he’s in the house. So, I can
see a noticeable improvement since I’ve been doing all these things.”

(clinic sounds)


Quinzell and his grandfather are with several other families
at a clinic at the University of Michigan. The families are
learning more about asthma and some of the tests being
conducted on their children. They’re taking it
seriously. Already two children who were part of this group
have died before their disease was managed. Quinzell seems
enthusiastic about the things he’s learning about asthma
research, even though he’s had to go through some tests,
including one where he has to breathe into a machine to
determine how much air his lungs can hold. This test helps to
determine just how bad his asthma might be.


“I did it one time. I was out of breath and the lady said ‘Okay,
two more times.’ Say what?!? I was doing right back-to-back (wheezing sound)
and then I gotta blow again. I was tired.”

Not only do Quinzell and the other children in the group have
to be tested regularly, but in order to help researchers,
they’ll have to pack around monitors that keep track of the
things in the air they breathe. They’ll also keep a diary of any
breathing problems they have during the day. And dust
samples will be taken in their house. Quinzell’s grandfather,
Sylvester Foote, says he’s glad to participate in the project if
it means his grandson will be able to breathe easier. He says he
does what he can to keep the house environment as dust free
as possible, but he wishes there were a permanent
solution.


“As far as any cure’s concerned, I sure wish I know it. I’d put
it on the market today. Not tomorrow, today.”


But it appears the cure for asthma, at least right now, is in the
prevention. And since much of the air we breathe is affected
by things outside of the house, successful intervention can’t
stop at the household. It has to be taken outside. That’s a much
larger challenge that this study also tackles.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.