Chapter 22

Ten Famous Folks with Asthma

In This Chapter

Overcoming asthma through the ages

Making history and great art with asthma

Breaking records despite asthma

R arely do you think of famous figures such as Augustus Caesar, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Charles Dickens in the same breath — unless you’re considering the many great achievers throughout human history who had asthma.

The modern world also abounds with asthmatics who have had a significant impact on human events, including John F. Kennedy, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Kenny G, and Liza Minnelli, to name only a few. Living with asthma doesn’t mean you’re sentenced to life’s sidelines.

Renowned leaders, writers, musicians, doctors, and athletes have overcome their asthma to achieve greatness — in some cases, long before the development of the medications and therapies that help today’s asthmatics.

Imagine Dickens, coughing deeply and incessantly while trying to finish David Copperfield, or Beethoven suffering from attacks of dyspnea (shortness of breath) and wondering whether he was fated to die from a respiratory disease like his mother did. These brilliant creative spirits persevered, fighting past the asthma’s restrictions, and created transcendent literature and music that still speaks to people today.

Perhaps you’re a budding Beethoven, a youthful Jackie Joyner-Kersee, or an up-and-coming Teddy Roosevelt. You can accomplish your dreams and hopes for the future, despite having asthma — especially if you and your doctor ensure that you receive the necessary treatment to appropriately and effectively manage your condition. As I explain throughout this book, you can control your asthma; don’t let your asthma control you.

Augustus Caesar

The great-nephew of Julius Caesar, Gaius Octavius (63 B.C. –A.D. 14), began his life with a slight advantage over his future rivals. However, when his power-ful great-uncle was assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 B.C. , 18-year-old Octavius could hardly have known that he would someday become the first, and ultimately most famous, ruler of the ancient Roman Empire. Octavius fought battles, both political and military, for 17 years before consolidating his power, eliminating his foes (most notably Mark Antony, who was distracted by Cleopatra, the exotic Egyptian queen), and creating the position of Roman Emperor for himself. When he became emperor, Octavius also took on a new name: Augustus, which means “the Exalted.”

Augustus acquired his empire while also fighting asthma, according to ancient writings on his life. However, he didn’t use respiratory difficulties as an excuse; no accounts of Augustus saying, “I came, I saw, I coughed,” have come to light. He forged an empire that encompassed everything from England to Egypt.

Peter the Great

The youngest son of Czar Alexis, Peter (1672–1725) wasn’t expected to become head of state, but when his older half-siblings died early, he became co-ruler at the age of 10 and sole czar at age 24. While his lungs fought asthma, Peter battled the Turks and later the Swedes, eventually winning access to the Baltic Sea and founding Russia’s “window on the West,” Saint Petersburg.

Peter the Great’s early experiences of learning from foreigners, especially Dutch traders and merchants, helped fuel his desire to open Russia to Western trade, inventions, and ideas, setting in motion a process that continues (with considerable challenges) to the present day.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Most people know that Beethoven (1770–1827) contended with the worst affliction any musician could face: deafness. And yet, even as his hearing began to deteriorate at age 29 and continued until he became completely deaf at age 46, Beethoven managed to compose some of the most dramatic and beautiful works ever written in the Western classical music tradition.

Beethoven’s hearing wasn’t his only challenge: The first recorded account of illness in Beethoven’s life was an asthma attack he experienced at age 16. He subsequently suffered “numerous colds and bronchitis” for most of his adult life. However, Beethoven pushed the Pathetique side of his existence away and aimed for the Eroica, becoming one of the world’s greatest composers. (No one knows whether a coughing fit inspired the famous opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.)

The great German master may have taken some solace from the fact that the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was also asthmatic. Short of breath or not, Vivaldi composed many wonderful works that music lovers continue to enjoy — most notably, The Four Seasons.

Charles Dickens

“Please, sir, I want some more.” Although Oliver Twist, hero of one of Dickens’s best-loved novels, speaks that famous line, imagining the author himself pleading for a bit more oxygen to reach his lungs without a coughing fit to go with it isn’t difficult. Although Dickens (1812–1870) grew up in London, where the air was dank with the Industrial Revolution’s smoke and fog (hence, smog), the great writer apparently didn’t experience real respiratory trouble until he was 37. A vacation retreat to the seaside town of Bonchurch left him allergy-ridden, coughing, and sick to his stomach. Dickens felt relief only after he departed for the inland country surroundings of Broadstairs in Kent.

Over the next few years, asthmatic characters filled Dickens’s novels, from Mr. Omer in David Copperfield to Mr. Sleary in Hard Times. In his correspondence with friends and relations, the author cited nights in which he couldn’t sleep because of constant coughing. Dickens also reported that only opiates, which were popular asthma remedies of the time, helped his symptoms. As I explain in Chapters 15 and 16, more effective medications (with far fewer side effects) now exist for treating asthma. Despite his condition, Dickens wrote dozens of terrific books and stories, becoming (along with Shakespeare) one of the two most popular writers of all time in the English language.

Dickens wasn’t the only writer and social commentator who rose above asthma. Other significant literary figures with asthma include French author Marcel Proust (1871–1922), Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914– 1953), and American author John Updike (born 1932).

Teddy Roosevelt

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (1858–1919) lived with asthma from infancy but overcame the disease in a big way, becoming a prolific author, military hero, and, at age 42, the 26th president of the United States. Perhaps more important for children, he also provided the namesake for the teddy bear.

Roosevelt did everything in a big way: Throughout his childhood, he dealt with numerous diseases, bad eyesight, and unsuccessful asthma remedies. But a course of vigorous exercise, which “TR,” as he was also known, began at age 12, eventually helped lessen his attacks. (See Chapter 18 for more information on how exercise can help youngsters with asthma.)

Roosevelt’s positive outlook on life, in spite of the many challenges facing him, also kept him from turning his asthma into an excuse for self-pity or losing his wry sense of humor. Referring to one asthma episode, the 15-year-old Teddy wrote, “Except for the fact that I cannot speak, without blowing like an abridged edition of a hippopotamus, it does not inconvenience me much.”

In 1884, a terrible pair of tragedies struck Roosevelt: His first wife and his mother died on the same day. Beset by grief, which may have contributed to the serious asthma episodes that plagued him in the wake of his loss, Roosevelt’s doctor advised leaving the cooler, humid weather of upstate New York for the drier climate of the West. Horseback riding and a change in surroundings seemed to help his recovery.

As I explain in Chapter 10, however, relocating to a drier climate rarely works these days because of the abundance of non-native plants that so many settlers and developers introduced to the western parts of North America during the last century.

Roosevelt, who was quite the fun-loving, roughhousing parent, sometimes suffered asthma episodes after pillow fights with his children. Therefore, some medical scholars suggest that Teddy was allergic to feathers. However, old “Rough and Ready” fought his asthma well enough to lead his volunteer troops up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War and subsequently become a successful two-term president, with his face carved into Mount Rushmore.

Years after he left office, TR ran for president again, this time as an independent candidate. Although he survived an assassination attempt during that campaign, he eventually lost the election to Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), also an asthmatic.

John F. Kennedy

So much has been written about John F. Kennedy’s tragic and untimely death at the age of 46 that overlooking the many health problems he faced throughout his life is easy. From his early childhood, Kennedy (1917–1963) was prone to disease, including asthma. His medical history also included childhood scarlet fever and diphtheria; adolescent afflictions such as bronchitis, sinusitis (see Chapter 13), and an irritable colon; hepatitis in college; malaria during World War II; and struggles with hypothyroidism, ulcers, and urinary tract infections later in life.

In 1954, complications from back surgery led to a staph infection that nearly killed the future president. In addition to these ailments, atopy (a genetic predisposition to developing allergic conditions), which ran in the Kennedy family, showed up throughout John’s life in the form of food allergies and (most significantly) allergic reactions to animal dander, particularly dog hair and horsehair. These reactions often triggered asthma episodes, which plagued Kennedy throughout his life.

As a result, during Kennedy’s teenage years, his family kept their beloved dogs outdoors — a less than adequate attempt at avoidance and allergy-proofing (see Chapter 10). The Kennedys loved dogs: Think of all those images of the clan roughhousing with furry friends in Hyannisport. Therefore, JFK was often exposed to these potent asthma triggers (see Chapter 5), either through direct contact with canines or from dander that invariably collected on the clothes of friends and family members and which then permeated indoor environments.

But JFK was remarkably resilient, fighting through his many obstacles to become a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and, in 1960, the youngest elected president in U.S. history. Kennedy contended with his allergies, the related asthma attacks, and the laryngitis that occasionally followed during his years in public office. Not until his years in the White House was Kennedy able to appreciably reduce his sensitivities to animal dander — thanks to a long course of allergy shots (see Chapter 11) that his allergist, Paul F. de Gara (1903–1991), administered.

Because he also suffered from Addison’s disease, a condition marked by insufficient adrenal function, Kennedy required cortisone to boost his adrenal levels. This cortisone therapy may have helped control his asthma, reducing the underlying airway inflammation (see Chapter 2).

Ultimately, Kennedy led an extraordinarily productive and successful life despite his physical ailments, heroically fighting in the Pacific during World War II, championing antidiscrimination policies, supporting the arts and culture, and facing down Soviet missiles in Cuba, all in inspiring fashion. Although a standoff with Khrushchev or Castro may have flustered others, JFK didn’t flinch. (And neither did Castro’s fellow Latin American revolutionary Ché Guevara [1928–1967], also a longtime asthma sufferer.)

Leonard Bernstein

Arguably the most famous American-born conductor of classical music, and certainly one of the most influential figures in American culture, Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) made his mark on the world despite living with asthma from infancy. In fact, Bernstein had numerous childhood asthma episodes, sometimes turning blue from lack of oxygen.

Bernstein had an incredible will to learn and succeed, insisting on taking piano lessons even though his father was willing to pay only the tiniest of fees in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at dissuading his son from a career in music. In his early 20s, Bernstein graduated from Harvard with honors and became the assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. His first big break came in 1943, when he replaced ailing music director Bruno Walter on the podium at the last minute, leading a performance that wowed the Big Apple’s classical music establishment.

Bernstein impacted the arts in the United States and around the world. He showcased his talent as the composer of dynamic, innovative Broadway musicals, such as West Side Story and Kaddish, a dramatic, semi-liturgical piece. Likewise, Bernstein flamboyantly conducted symphony orchestras and incisively taught TV audiences about great music.

Bernstein’s asthma was a constant presence throughout his success, largely because he aggravated the condition by chain-smoking from early adulthood until the end of his life. His wheezing was often so severe that audiences heard it over the sound of the orchestra during performances.

Because of his incessant smoking, Bernstein developed emphysema, which, unlike asthma, often leads to irreversible, destructive lung damage. (See Chapter 5 for more reasons why smoking is a bad idea, especially if you have a respiratory condition like asthma.) When he finally succumbed to a heart attack in 1990, Bernstein was suffering from asthma complicated by emphysema, a lung tumor, and progressive heart failure.

Liza Minnelli

“What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play,” sang Liza Minnelli (born 1946) in her Academy Award–winning performance from the 1972 film Cabaret. Throughout her life, Minnelli has followed that advice and then some, as one of the few performers in history to win the triple-stakes of an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony, in addition to building a worldwide following of devoted fans.

Beginning in early childhood, Minnelli performed in films and on stage, first as a guest of her legendary mother, Judy Garland, and on her own in her late teens. Considering the extraordinary vocal power that Minnelli displays night after night in concert, you may not suspect that she has asthma or other lung problems.

Although she has dealt with bouts of bronchitis in recent years and several physical mishaps have sidelined her at times, Minnelli continues to make the music “play,” as a committed singer, actress, and humanitarian who inspires others rather than “sitting alone in her room.”

Kenny G

Despite his asthma, inhaling enough oxygen to make his instrument sing doesn’t seem to be a problem for the soprano saxophonist Kenny Gorelick (born 1956), better known as Kenny G. Likewise, asthma hasn’t stopped this tuneful reed player from becoming the most commercially successful instrumental artist in recorded music history.

In fact, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time by an instrumentalist is Kenny G’s ironically titled Breathless. More than 18 years into his solo career, Kenny G continues his string of chart-topping releases and has recently dedicated efforts to raise money for school music programs, helping students discover the power of music.

On the other side of the musical coin, veteran shock-rocker Vincent Furrier, better known as Alice Cooper (born 1947), has also carved out a long career despite having asthma.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Growing up in a rough East St. Louis neighborhood, Jackie Joyner (born 1962) had plenty to overcome as a child. She avoided drugs and violence, and she struggled to find money to support her athletic training. Joyner persevered and concentrated her considerable abilities on several sporting pursuits at once, becoming a high school basketball star, excelling in various track and field events, and playing volleyball. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her class and won a basketball scholarship to UCLA, where she met her track-and-field coach and future husband, Bob Kersee.

In 1983, a year before she competed in her first Olympics, Joyner-Kersee was diagnosed with asthma. Although she began taking medication for her condition soon afterward, she often used her prescribed products only when she thought she needed them rather than following her doctor’s instructions for regular use. A serious asthma episode during Olympic training in 1988 — triggered by breathing cold air — made her realize the vital importance of using her medication as prescribed, on a consistent basis, to keep her condition under control. (See Chapter 9 for more information on exercise-induced asthma, or EIA.)

Neither her respiratory condition nor her related allergies have kept Joyner-Kersee from reaching the pinnacle of her sport. She won three gold medals in track and field and still holds the world record for the heptathlon, a demanding seven-part grouping of events. She is the only woman to have received the Sporting News Man of the Year award. Many sports analysts consider Joyner-Kersee the world’s greatest woman athlete, perhaps of all time.

Likewise, other famous athletes have also overcome asthma to reach the top of their fields. Some of these stellar achievers include

Jerome Bettis, a top NFL running back who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards per season for several years

Nancy Hogshead, Olympic swimming gold medalist

Al Joyner, Olympic triple jump gold medalist (and Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s brother; remember that asthma runs in families but doesn’t have to keep you on the sidelines)

Greg Louganis, Olympic diving gold medalist

Art Monk, one of the most successful wide receivers in NFL history

Dennis Rodman, a leading rebounder in the NBA and a key member of several championship teams (also part-time actor and fashion trendsetter)

Amy Van Dyken, Olympic swimming gold medalist