If we are going to reduce asthma deaths, hospitalizations, ER visits, and asthma attacks (symptoms, flare-ups, exacerbations, respiratory distress), we must work backwards from the asthma attacks severe enough to require breathing relief. We certainly must focus on improving controller medication adherence. We must encourage allergy testing to know our specific allergens and for some, allergen immunotherapy could be a treatment option to consider.
But we must seize the opportunities for preventative action upstream of symptoms that ultimately require respiratory relief, whether a rescue inhaler, or worse, emergency assistance, an ER visit, an in-patient hospital stay, or that even threaten life. It’s time to focus on symptom control by pursuing upstream interventions that reduce the allergen impact on us. This approach is inspired by my read of Dan Heath’s Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen.
Since 70% of those with asthma have allergic asthma, let us target allergen reduction and avoidance to reduce or avoid symptoms that may lead to respiratory distress. With allergic asthma, it is very important to understand symptom threshold. Everyone has their own unique sensitivity to allergy and asthma triggers and not all of them are obvious, many are often subtle. The symptom threshold is personal, it is the point at which someone starts experiencing allergy symptoms. Over time, DailyBreath can help determine the user’s specific allergens, their sensitivity to them, and under what weather conditions their risk of experiencing symptoms is greater.
DailyBreath helps users to reduce their exposure to allergens they encounter outside in daily life, but pollen is one of the allergens that is also brought indoors. So, besides being exposed to a myriad of conditions outside that may push someone towards reaching their symptom threshold there are allergens and pollutants indoors that may become even more problematic in a confined setting.
So, an immediate goal is to reduce individual symptom thresholds. Upstream allergen reduction interventions, including improving indoor air quality, help lessen the personal capacity to reach the symptom threshold and is a key step in allergy management and control. Air purifiers are one way to clean the air indoors, capturing allergens and pollutants as they pass through a filter.
A new kind of defense against indoor allergens to control symptoms is to use an allergen neutralizer to reduce allergen impact. Add another tool to your toolbox like Allergen Spray, now Lab-verified for pollen allergens. Allergen Spray works by making the allergens less present in your indoor air. When sprayed, it encapsulates the allergens and knocks them down to the ground and neutralizes the allergen spores so that they lose a measure of their capacity to cause an allergic response.
With increases in pollen and the allergenicity of pollen, spraying several times a week in your family room and bedroom could be one upstream step in helping you to avoid potentially preventable asthma attacks. As we begin the ragweed allergy season, consider trying Allergen Spray by Allergy Defender. Use the Coupon Code, BREATH, for a 10% Discount.