BeeHealthy
Timely Hints for a Healthy Lifestyle
Help children

breathe easy

this spring

Asthma brings three-quarters of a million children into emergency departments every year.

But the American College of Emergency Physicians says getting a good asthma management plan organized before an emergency may help your child stay out of the hospital altogether.

If you are not sure whether your child has asthma, but he or she has the symptoms of asthma (coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath), talk to your doctor.

After a child has been diagnosed with asthma, the parent or guardian and child should meet with a physician to develop a plan for monitoring asthma symptoms (usually a peak flow meter) and for medicating the child when trouble develops.

Some children with asthma will benefit from two types of medication: one they use daily to prevent asthma attacks (controller medications or inhalers) and one they use to relieve symptoms (rescue inhalers).

Children with asthma should carry a rescue inhaler with them or have one readily available to them at school.

It is important that when children develop symptoms, they and their caregivers or teachers know how to administer the medication and do so quickly.

Consistent use of controller medications can prevent many asthma attacks and help children lead a normal, physically active life. How and when medications are used may vary from season to season, depending on what an individual child's triggers are.

Typical triggers include exercise; colds and flu; laughing or crying hard; allergens from plants, animals, house dust, cockroach droppings or mold; and irritants such as cold air, chemicals and smoke.

It is also recommended that you do what you can to limit your child's exposure to his or her asthma triggers.

For example, if your child is allergic to furry animals, minimize his or her exposure to them at friends' houses and in the classroom at school.

If cold air is a trigger, arrange for your child to exercise indoors during the winter instead of outdoors. If dust is a trigger, replace carpeting with wood, tile or vinyl floor coverings.

Be sure to get your child a flu shot as soon as they are available in the fall.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that only 30 percent of children with asthma get the flu shot, even though flu can be fatal for people with asthma.

For more information on asthma, call (202) 728-0610. Tenth Sister-to-Sister

Summit set at Buffalo State College

The 10th anniversary of the annual Sister-to-Sister Summit of Western New York will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Saturday, March 31 at Buffalo State College.

The summit is for girls between 12 and 17 from Buffalo and surrounding area schools to have a safe place to discuss a number of topics. The girls must have preregistered.

The topics discussed will include domestic violence, relationships, date rape, sexually transmitted disease, feminism, body image, dating and teen pregnancy.

Programs offered will include Healthy with Your Skin, No Body's Perfect, Never Too Late ... Healthy Relationships, My Body My Temple, Birth Control, Don't Trust that Dial and Conflict Resolution.

In addition, participants will also get the chance to choose from a range of extra activities, such as self-defense, a drama workshop, being an entrepreneur, learning to be a leader and expression through poetry.

Last year's event hosted 200 girls, and planners this year have made a push for increased sponsorship. There is no charge for the event.

For more information on the summit, call 983-0870.