May is Allergy & Asthma Awareness Month

As you know from my very first Soccer Mom post, one of my hot button issues is Food Allergy Awareness.  May is a big month for this topic as not only is the entire month of May designated as NATIONAL ASTHMA AWARENESS MONTH here in the U.S.A., but WORLD ASTHMA DAY was May 8 and May 13 - 19 is FOOD ALLERGY AWARENESS WEEK. 

What is Asthma?  According to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), "Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide (20 million Americans).  It is characterized by recurrent breathing problems and symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing.  Asthma symptoms vary over time, and also from individual to individual."  The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America breaks down asthma further, into two categories:  Allergic (extrinsic) and Non-Allergic (intrinsic).  Allergic asthma is the most common form and occurs when triggered by allergic reactions.  Symptoms (coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, rapid breathing and chest tightness) are the same in either case. 

What are Allergies?  "Diseases of the immune system that cause an overreaction to substances called 'allergens' and are categorized as indoor and outdoor allergies, food and drug allergies, latex allergies, insect allergies, skin allergies and eye allergies" (Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America).  With food allergies, the allergens are food that your body mistakenly believes is harmful, such as milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, shellfish, soy and wheat (the Big Eight that account for 90% of all U.S. food allergies).  Approximately 12 million Americans have food allergies (The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network).

What can I do? 

1)  You can find materials for World Asthma Day here.  Courtesy of GINA, these materials will help you get the word out. The Environmental Protection Agency also has a planning kit for Asthma Awareness Month.   

2)  Advocate, advocate, advocate.  If you are a mother of a child with Asthma, join the Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics, visit their advocacy center often, read what you can do and do it!  Annually, they have an event in Washington D.C. to lobby Congress for action and make people aware of Asthma. 

3)  Spread the word about food allergies during the 10th annual Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW) May 13 - 19, 2007.  The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has an entire week's worth of activities you can do to help spread the word (and more ideas, including a poster contest, here).   

4)  Again, ADVOCATE. Lobby your governor to recognize the week for your state (template letter here).  Pester your representatives in Congress to pass the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act when it is reintroduced in Congress this year.  Join FAAN, keep abreast of their advocacy actions.   

Whatever you do, get involved, get aware.  You may be saving the life of someone you love. 

Comments

[Sonia]

You've already read the "spiderman" post about my brother's friend who died of a peanut allergy at a restaurant where he didn't see the signs posted. Until that happened, I never thought much about how "dangerous" it is to live with a serious allergy like that, there are so many things a person like that has to vigilant about. It would help if the rest of us had a better understanding about the pitfalls those with allergies and asthma have.
Very informative post, Angela.

[Ria Sharon]

Angela, thanks for contributing such an informative post for Food Allergy Week. It is a hot topic for a lot of us. That's why I decided gather FA bloggers together for food allergy awareness this year. I invite you to join us... the collection will be updated daily and can be accessed at http://www.checkmytag.com/community.html. Instructions for participating are detailed in the May 8 post.

[Steph]

GReat post! It's something I really don't think about enough. One of my co-workers is allergic to sooo many things and he always gets the shaft when we have some firm event or lunch. No one ever thinks about him or the other people with allergies.

[Michele]

Great post! great awareness!
I am very familiar with food allergies..
My son(the one who has autism) has many allergies to certain foods- his digestive system can't handle certain foods(leaky gut) & we will see reactions behavior wise all of a sudden.. I know it sounds ridiculous but we keep the red dye # 40 away- too much causes a lot of aggressive behaviors...

[Rachel]

Great post! My youngest (16 months old) was just diagnosed last week with an egg allergy and an allergy to cats. We had to find our cat a new home and for right now are trying to eliminate egg from her diet.
She has eczema pretty badly and we've got a laundry list of things to do to get it under control.

And of course, I am scared that she will develop asthma. According to her doctor, she is 3 times more likely to develop it because of her allergies and eczema. It's scary but, unfortunately not preventable.