Does Altitude Affect Your Asthma?
If you have asthma and you enjoy outside activities that take
you to higher elevations or much, much higher, the possible
danger has certainly crossed your mind. Well, the news isn't all
bad, though it is cautionary.
Asthma is a chronic lung condition, characterized by a
difficulty with breathing. People with asthma have extra
sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. During an asthma attack,
their airways become irritated and react by narrowing and
constructing, causing increased resistance to airflow, and
obstructing the flow of the air passages to and from the lungs.
There's no question, as an asthma sufferer you're more likely to
be affected by altitude sickness than if you didn't have the
disease. However, if you're fit and healthy, with asthma that's
well controlled, you should have no problems coping. This is, of
course, provided you ascend slowly and recognize and accept your
limitations.
Altitude will generally have little effect on stable asthmatics.
If your asthma is so severe that your blood oxygen is low, then
air travel can put you in danger of reducing your blood oxygen
level even further. That, combined with the dry, cool conditions
generally encountered at high altitudes, could trigger asthma
symptoms. In addition, if your destination is a high altitude, a
city such as Denver for example, and you're unaccustomed to that
altitude and have little opportunity to acclimatize, you may
experience heightened symptoms. As always, discuss this with
your doctor ahead of time.
Now, if you're dealing with severe asthma and you've been using
your bronchodilator three or more times a week over the previous
year, high-altitude treks can also increase your risk of an
asthma attack. As already mentioned, the dry, cool conditions
generally encountered at higher altitudes tend to aggravate the
disease. Climbing, in and of itself, can be a very strenuous
exercise which may trigger exercise-induced asthma in some
people.
Then there's your inhaler to consider. In freezing conditions,
pressurized inhalers may not work properly. So before using
yours, first you'll need to warm it up using the body heat from
your hands.
The best thing to do is to discuss your trip with your doctor
several weeks in advance of your departure. This will allow time
to work out a personal asthma action plan for the trip. This
might involve increasing your preventer treatment for several
weeks before the trip to give your airways extra protection, or
measuring peak flow while away to determine how altitude is
affecting your lung function, or even simple things like
ensuring that you have enough medication and backup medication.
High altitudes do not need to be avoided. Just make certain you
take some basic precautions. Humid air is certainly better for
keeping your airways moist. However, the effects of dry, cool
air can be prevented by keeping your asthmatic condition under
close control. And some asthma sufferers, particularly those
whose asthma is triggered by house-dust mites may actually find
their asthma improves at higher elevations, where the dust mites
can't survive.
So ask your doctor about any high-altitude travelling you have
upcoming, heed his advice, and enjoy your trip!