Asthma For Dummies

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When I was first diagnosed with asthma back in college, I could have used a book like this. I really didn’t know what asthma was all about or what I needed to do to manage it.

The truth is, I didn’t take my asthma very seriously. I didn’t want to think of myself — a serious athlete — as being sick. So I lived in denial. I took rescue medicine when my symptoms acted up, but mostly I tried to ignore it. I thought I could overcome it — that maybe it would go away on its own. Finally, after one particularly scary attack, it hit me: Instead of controlling my asthma, I was letting my asthma control me.

Now, I work with my doctor and manage my asthma daily. It’s made a big difference. My symptoms are much less frequent, and I can do the things I want to do without being limited by my asthma.

The more I talk to people with this disease, the more I realize that my story is a very common one. If symptoms and attacks are interfering with your life or if you limit your activities in order to avoid asthma symptoms, keep in mind that things don’t have to be this way.

That’s why this book is so useful. It tells you everything you need to know about how to keep your asthma under control, so you don’t have to go through what I went through.

Read it carefully and work with your doctor. Find out what you can do to help prevent symptoms from happening in the first place, and stick with it. Set your sights high, and never settle for less than your personal best.

It’s not always easy, but you can do it. Take it from me: With the proper training and attitude, asthma doesn’t have to slow you down.

About the Author

William E. Berger, MD, MBA, is one of the nation’s foremost experts on allergies and asthma. As a board-certified physician in two separate specialties (pediatrics and allergy and immunology), Dr. Berger has had extensive clinical experience in diagnosing and treating patients with allergies and asthma for more than 25 years. He holds dual appointments at the University of California, Irvine, as clinical professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology, and as adjunct professor of Health Care Management in the Graduate School of Management. In addition, he has also served as principal investigator in numerous clinical research projects.

Dr. Berger is a former member of the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters that writes the national treatment guidelines for asthma and allergies. He has served as president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and both the Orange County and California Societies of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. In recognition of his continued achievement in the specialty of treating allergic diseases, Dr. Berger was awarded the title Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

A former medical correspondent for the Orange County Newschannel, the Medical News Network, and ABC’s Mike and Maty Show, Dr. Berger is also the author of many academic papers and lay press articles in the field of allergy, asthma, and immunology. He is a recognized international speaker in the field of allergy and asthma and is frequently invited to lecture at medical conferences and symposia held throughout the world. In addition, Dr. Berger has been the subject of medical reports on allergies and asthma that have appeared on CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, Lifetime Medical Television, NBC Dateline, and Cable News Network (CNN). He has also been featured in medical articles published in Time, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and The Orange County Register.

Dr. Berger founded the Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California Medical Group in 1981 in Mission Viejo, California, where he currently practices both adult and pediatric allergy medicine. In 1995, Dr. Berger established the Southern California Research Center, focusing on respiratory and allergy clinical research studies.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife Charlette, my son Michael, and my daughter Johanna, for their loving encouragement and their inspiring confidence that I would actually get the writing done on time.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I especially want to thank acquisitions editor Natasha Graf, whose vision and foresight actually made this book possible. My project editor, Allyson Grove, kept me on track throughout the writing process and ensured that this book follows in the great line of the For Dummies tradition. I also greatly appreciate the artistry of Kathryn Born, our medical illustrator, whose drawings enhance the text, and the contributions of Chad Sievers, the copyeditor of this book.

I am also very grateful to the numerous other people who have made this book possible, most of all my indefatigable senior research editor, Carl Byron, who probably won’t miss my midnight telephone calls to review the manuscript. Thanks also to Skye Herzog, agent extraordinaire, part-time psychologist, nurturer, and motivational expert. I am extremely grateful to Francene Lifson, executive director of the Southern California Chapter of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, whose assistance was invaluable during the initial stages of this project.

A very special thanks to my friend, Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the world’s greatest female athlete, for writing the foreword to this book and for her unceasing efforts in raising awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and effective treatment of asthma. Jackie has inspired asthmatics throughout the world by proving that having asthma shouldn’t prevent you from achieving your goals — no matter what they are.

I also want to express my deep-felt appreciation to Phil Lieberman, MD, who acted as technical editor for this book and who provided invaluable insights from his many years of experience in the field of allergy and immunology. Richard Nicklas, MD, and Bob Lanier, MD, also deserve my special thanks for taking time out from their busy schedules to review the manuscript and for providing excellent comments and suggestions.

Also, thanks to the following individuals who have been great friends, outstanding educators, and constant sources of inspiration due to their supreme dedication to providing excellent patient care: Brian Levine, MD; Eric Schenkel, MD; Joel Cristol, MD; Stanley Galant, MD; Sherwin Gillman, MD; Charles Siegel, MD; Bruce Prenner, MD; Joseph Bellanti, MD; Ira Finegold, MD; Don Mitchell, MD; John Zucker, MD; Tom Plaut, MD; and Mark Wohlgemuth, MD.

Thanks to my fellow members of the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, including Stanley Fineman, MD; Richard Nicklas, MD; I. Leonard Bernstein, MD; Joann Blessing-Moore, MD; Mark S. Dykewicz, MD; Rufus Lee, MD; James Li, MD, PhD; Jay Portnoy, MD; Diane Schuller, MD; and Sheldon Spector, MD, all of whose extraordinary commitment and hard work in developing and maintaining the highest quality parameters for the care of our patients inspired me to write this book.

I greatly appreciate the information provided by allergy historians Sheldon Cohen, MD, and Guy Settipane, MD, whose research helped in developing Chapter 22.

As always, I place special value on the support and understanding of my clinical and research staff, my associates in practice, Mark Sugar, MD, Janis Davidson, RN, CPNP, and especially Ellen Schonfeld, RN, CPNP, who provided invaluable assistance in reviewing the manuscript and researching the illustrations for this book.

I am especially grateful to Georgia Beams and Jennifer Feaser, RN, who helped me start Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California in Mission Viejo more than 25 years ago (we were all 12 years old at the time!) and who have always provided me with their generous support and advice in whatever professional goals and endeavors I have pursued (including this book).

Nancy Sander, patient advocate and spokesperson and founder and president of Allergy and Asthma Network•Mothers of Asthmatics, also deserves my gratitude for her friendship, insights, and especially for her dedication to raising awareness about asthma and allergies.

Most of all, I would like to thank all of my patients for allowing me the privilege of caring for them and their children. Over the years, I’ve learned a great deal from them and am a better person and physician for the experience. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived: That is to have succeeded!”

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Allyson Grove

(Previous Edition: Christine Meloy Beck)

Acquisitions Editor: Natasha Graf

Copy Editor: Chad R. Sievers

(Previous Edition: Billie A. Williams)

Assistant Editor: Holly Gastineau-Grimes

Technical Editor: Phillip Lieberman, MD

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistant: Elizabeth Rea

Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com

Production

Project Coordinator: Courtney MacIntyre

Layout and Graphics: Andrea Dahl, Stephanie D. Jumper, Michael Kruzil, Kristin McMullan, Jacque Schneider

Special Art: Kathryn Born

Proofreader: TECHBOOKS Production Services

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Special Help Georgette Beatty

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