World Asthma Day
Posted May 3, 2011 10:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Today is World Asthma Day.
Statistics show 12 per cent of children and 8 per cent of adults have the disease, which amounts to about 2.5-million Canadians.
Millions of others have allergies that, if left untreated, could lead to asthma.
Christine Hampson with the Asthma Society of Canada says the big focus for this year’s campaign is about taking control.
“There are a lot of people that are having difficulty controlling their asthma for a variety of reasons and one big step is to make sure that they understand how to control their allergies,” says Hampson.
She tells 660News asthma should be treated by sufferers like the chronic disease it is.
“It’s not just something that pops up every once in a while. You may only have symptoms every once in a while, but you have underlying inflammation of your airway that’s there all the time, so talk to your doctor about an asthma action plan and how to make it work for you,” says Hampson.
She says patients shouldn’t just react when they have symptoms but should manage it as the chronic disease it is.
The society is announcing the expansion of its national support program.
You can go to their support website here or call their toll free number at 1-866-787-4050.
You can also email them at info@asthma.ca.
