Asthma is a condition associated with inflammation and constriction of the lung’s air passages, possibly producing extra mucus. This introduces significant difficulty in breathing, with a particular whistling sound when the patient exhales.
Which will you be? Worried or surprised if I told you over 25 million Americans have asthma? This comprises 8.4% of the American child population and 7.7% of the adult equivalent.
Asthma is also prevalent in the Black American community, with an estimated 2.6 million non-Hispanic blacks having asthma. For asthma, the predominant risk factor includes genetic predisposition and exposure to triggers in your surroundings. Such triggers – as typical when an asthmatic patient inhales particles or substances – can irritate the air passage.
Some of these triggers include outdoor allergens like mold and pollen, indoor allergens like pet dander and house dust mites (customizing your bedding to their own Beverly Hills estate), tobacco smoke, and air pollution. Interacting with someone with asthma requires a reasonable dose of empathy. There is an unwritten code of ethics to operate around these patients as they are more sensitive, either physically and emotionally.
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Let me tell you five things you should never say to someone with asthma if you genuinely care about them.
“Why don’t you just take your inhaler?”
There is no denying that inhalers can be a handful when those ugly symptoms of asthma pop up. But the best way to manage asthma attacks remains prevention.
It would be very careless of you to deliberately expose your friend to triggers trusting in the can-do-it-all power of inhalers. Inhalers are best used in emergencies, not as bulletproof resort against avoidable triggers.
Be emphatic to what your friend’s or loved one’s special needs. If they tell you to keep your dog out or stop wearing strong perfume around them, don’t try to convince them inhalers will get them just fine.
“Would you mind I just smoke?”
Come on, an asthma patient definitely minds if you smoke. Exposure to tobacco smoke is particularly dangerous for people with asthma.
When they inhale such smoke, there is a settling of irritants in the moist lining of their lung’s air passages. This can trigger an asthma attack. Smoke causes increased mucus production in the lungs. Consequently, this stacks up the airways, prompting an attack.
Oh, I can hear you say, “alright then, I will just smoke my dear cigar in the next room or open the window”. Trust me, that is not smart either.
Even in the lightest density, such second-hand smoke can yet infiltrate the area around your friend and cause flare-ups.
What more, there is a huge possibility that your clothes retain the tobacco smoke even after your tobacco break. This smoke can still cause attacks.
Tell me, will all that painful wheezing, shortness of breath, and coughing from your loved one (when the smoke gets to them) be worth that transient delight from that tobacco puff?
“But you look okay to me”
Asthma is not acne, stupid! It doesn’t necessarily show on the face or cause significant weight loss as is obtainable in the likes of cancer.
Asthma can’t be solely responsible for a substantial disfigurement in the physical appearance of the patient. The major signs of asthma include lung inflammation, airway blockage, and irritability. As you can predict, all these are internalized, and a person with asthma will look perfectly handsome and charming until they have attacks. So don’t go around thinking they would wear their asthma on their face like a badge.
“Are you contagious?”
Wait, are you already assembling your personal protective equipment (PPE) kit because you want to visit a loved one with asthma?
Despite being a respiratory ailment like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), asthma is totally non-contagious. This means it is not infectious, and it is also not communicable. The latter means you can’t get it from your loved one by direct or indirect contact.
In most cases, asthma is hereditary, and if you don’t have such genetic predispositions, it is almost impossible to get asthma despite spending your whole life with an asthmatic patient. So save yourself the naughty question of asking how quickly your loved one will infect you, and possibly save yourself the backlash too.
“But do you have to bring all these medications along?”
I will admit it, a nebulizer is not the most fashionable accessory to carry around, especially on that fanciful outing. You would prefer your loved one makes do with a readily concealable inhaler and save you guys the piercing stares. But in severe asthma cases carrying an inhaler along will not do. It could be important to take along a nebulizer to help them control those severe wheezing.
If your loved ones want to bring the bulk of their medication along, don’t ask them not to. Rather be a good lad and ask them how well you can assist in administering the medication if the need arises.
There you go. These are some of the worst questions you should ever ask someone with asthma if you don’t want to hurt them. Just in case you need help with the questions to ask them, I will help you with one: “when next can I take you to a five-star dinner?”
