Doctors put a great deal  of effort into sorting out whether an individual patient has asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, Asthma/COPD overlap syndrome, or another airways disease. It is important to work with a physician to determine the primary drivers of illness for an individual patient. We don’t want people to be on the wrong  medications or shelling out thousands of their (or OUR, in terms of premium payments/Medicare/Aid) dollars for inhalers they don’t need. I spend a great deal of time on this in clinic because individualized patient care and medication dosing is very important.

HOWEVER, there are commonalities among many airway reactions, from those of us who just inhale a massive dose of pollution/pollen/virus and set off our airways to those with severe asthma and hyperactive airways at baseline. I call this the “Twitchy Airways Club.” If you think you are a member (or if your doctor has told you that you have asthma or COPD), hopefully this website will have resources for you. You are likely at higher risk of being affected by things like smoking (whether first, second, or third hand), vaping, wildfires, prolonged pollen seasons, traffic related air pollution, etc. 

I think the Asthma and Allergy Foundation has an excellent brief intro into what I call “twitchy airways” and for people with asthma. See below and check out their website. Then fill out a trigger diary and read my blog to find out how you can reduce triggers in the air you breathe. If you like to learn on the go, subscribe to the podcast.