|
|
Canku Ota |
|
|
(Many Paths) |
||
|
An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
||
|
September 20, 2003 - Issue 96 |
||
|
|
||
|
Pathways to Better
Health: A Feature of the Pick Your Path to Health Campaign |
||
|
by Cathy McCarthy, Anishinaabe
- Metis (non-status)
|
||
|
credits: art:
Helmo Winter Dancers by Cecil Youngfox
|
|
Asthma is a condition that causes the airways in the lungs to inflame and remain swollen. Symptoms such as coughing, wheezing (a whistling noise when you breathe), tightness in the chest, or shortness of breath indicate that already-swollen airways have closed up even more. They can even close all the way, causing a serious threat to life itself. So how do we follow a pathway to good lung and airway health over obstacles that are seemingly beyond our control? Once again, as Indian people, we can exercise a lot more power over the situation than we may suspect by virtue of our ability to come together and act in community. As always, the first place to start is with ourselves and within our families. Here are the more common triggers of asthma and some suggestions for controlling them.
Asthma symptoms that persist after removing the environmental triggers are controlled with two types of medication: 1) those that help over the long term, and 2) those that give quick relief and are meant for the short term. Long-term medications reduce the swelling in the airways and it may take a few weeks for you to start feeling their effect. The strongest of these medications contain steroids that are either taken as a pill, a liquid, or from an inhaler. Short-term or quick-relief medications are designed to relax and instantly open the airways. These medicines are breathed in from inhalers. Their effect is felt immediately but only last for about 4 hours at a time. A doctor treats your asthma by devising an individual action plan that combines removing triggers with long-term and short-term medications. For information and resources on asthma and how to treat it, you may want to contact the following organizations: U.S.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National
Asthma Education and Prevention Program Allergy
and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) Over the last decade, there have been a number of Federal government studies and public health initiatives launched to prevent asthma and help those who already suffer from symptoms gain better control through education and personal action plans. Many of these are ongoing at this time across the country. So it may well be that there is a program in your area for helping people who are on Medicare or Medicaid or who do not have health insurance at all. You may want to contact your local community clinic or Indian Friendship Center for program availability and eligibility. Or you can contact the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch, toll free at 1-888-232-6789, or (404) 498-1000. Their Web site is http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/asthma/default.htm. The best way to keep yourself, your family, and your community on the path to good health is by being informed and staying in touch with the resources that will support your efforts. Asthma control starts with a phone call and a dust cloth. It ends with a deep sigh and the laughter of children. Pick Your Path to Health is a national public health education campaign sponsored by the Office on Women's Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information about the campaign, please call 1-800-994-WOMAN or 1-888-220-5446 (TDD), or visit the National Women's Health Information Center at http://www.4woman.gov. To request weekly health tips by e-mail, click on the box that says, "Click Here for weekly health tips by e-mail." |
Breathing
in the clean air that surrounds us is a gift that we may take
for granted. But for a growing number of Indian people who suffer
from asthma, this gift is withheld. This is especially so as our
numbers of off-reservation communities increase in America’s
inner-city areas. Even more disturbing for us is its increase
among our children. Like other minorities in the United States,
our people tend to live in poverty and, as a result, are surrounded
by the very things most likely to trigger asthma. If we or our
children suffer from this condition, lack of money and bad living
conditions may prevent us from seeking medical help and the medicines
that will control it. More often than not, the only time we come
in contact with the systems and people who can help is at a hospital
emergency room when crisis hits. And at that point, our chances
of dying from asthma are 50 percent. |
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. | ||
|
Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry. |
||
 |
|
|
|
The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the |
||
|
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 of Paul C. Barry. |
||
|
All Rights Reserved. |
||
