Chances are you know someone with asthma. Asthma impacts more than 15 percent of Cochise County residents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, asthma is responsible for approximately 500,000 hospitalizations, 5,000 deaths and 134 million restricted activity days per year.

What is asthma? Asthma is a chronic disease that causes the airways in your lungs to narrow, making it difficult to breathe.

Breathing gets harder as you try to force air through narrow airways. Airways become narrow when muscles around them tighten, inner airway linings swell and mucus clogs small airways. The air you breathe may make a wheezing or whistling sound, and you might cough and spit up mucus.

Asthmatics can be extremely sensitive to environmental triggers like tobacco smoke, air pollution, allergens and exercise.

Your doctor may prescribe medication for your asthma. As with all medicines, it should only be taken as directed by your doctor. There are two basic types of medications that are used to relax airway muscles.

Control medications last from six to 12 hours and should not be used for quick relief of asthma symptoms. Quick-relief medications, also known as short-acting medications, last four to six hours and should be used for fast relief of asthma symptoms. Do not stop taking any medication until you talk to your doctor. Help your doctor help you: ask questions, communicate, follow directions and keep your appointments.

In order to manage asthma, control medications need to be used on a regular basis. Control medications reduce, reverse, and in some cases, prevent airway swelling and irritation. An asthma episode is easier to stop if you take your medicine as soon as symptoms develop, so it is important to learn your early-warning signs.

Early-warning signs that an asthma attack might be coming include: a decrease in your typical lung function, often measured by a peak-flow meter. Coughing, chest tightness, wheezing and shortness of breath are also important early symptoms. Asthma medicine can be started right away to relieve these symptoms and head off an attack. This also will decrease the amount of medication needed.

Remember that the key to managing your asthma is to prevent symptoms. It is important to talk about asthma to others. Family, friends, and teachers or co-workers can give you support if they know the facts.

An asthma self-management plan can be used as your personalized home-treatment plan. It is designed by your doctor and is based on your history of asthma symptoms and current findings. The asthma self-management plan gives you step-by-step instructions on how to manage your asthma on a daily basis, as well as when you are feeling asthma symptoms.

Your self-management plan should include instructions about your daily medications, including medication names, how much of each to take, and when to take your medicines. If you need an asthma self-management plan that will work for you or your child — visit our the county Health Department’s Web site at http://cochise.az.gov/cochise_health.aspx?id=260.

Asthma information event

If you would like to learn more about asthma symptoms and management, attend the Health Department’s informational asthma event on May 15 at the Sierra Vista Police Department from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Speak to a respiratory therapist and learn:

• Why medication is essential.

• What the different medications do.

• How to measure your lung function.

• How to identify and manage your asthma triggers.

Melissa Avant is the program manager for the Steps to a Healthier Cochise County program at the Cochise County Health Department. For information, visit http://cochise.az.gov, call the Cochise County Steps Program at 432-9451, or e-mail mavant@cochise.az.gov.