News & Articles

So what does Easter Spring Clean and Pollen have in common?

Usually pollen arrives in different forms throughout the seasons, unfortunately because of the way in which our climate appears to be changing, pollens from trees, grasses and flowers are now more common throughout the year. The high season was normally spring which coincided with the Easter break, which in turn usually fuels a DIY extravaganza.

Paint fumes will in some instances trigger asthma, so parents should be extremely careful with children who are susceptible to bronchial issues and asthma when deciding to decorate their internal property. Just make sure there is constant airflow through the property or room to remove the fumes.

Management and awareness will help alleviate the affects of chemical paint fumes and pollen. Asthma sufferers should use their preventer inhaler every day as prescribed by the doctor / medical adviser to prevent symptoms from developing or becoming worse.

Last summer was one of the hottest on record for the UK, European Union and certain states within the USA; this resulted in pollen counts also being high in the evening, as the temperature falls the pollen also falls to ground level.

Pollen is virtually impossible to avoid, it is well known that the allergy to pollen is the proteins present within the pollen, these vary by plant and tree species. On a windy day pollen can travel from garden to garden and those keen gardeners amongst us who suffer from asthma should be aware that cutting the grass early morning is when most lawns pollinate.

Most of us with asthma are treated with inhalers, which deliver a small dose of medicine to the lungs to treat the airways. Usually we have two inhalers, a reliever and a preventer, the medicine inside these inhalers relaxes the muscle in the airways. We designed the Apod to be hygienic and aesthetically pleasing as well as benefiting the user by keeping dust out of the inhaler through the integral cap.

Asthma attacks, whilst sleeping are a normal occurrence for a number of sufferers, asthmapods has designed unique Apods that glow in the dark, which will make it easier to locate and use. You can buy online at www.asthmapods.com/Apod shop.

We are an authentic business with a clear purpose and unique contribution we are determined to raise the profile for those of us that suffer from asthma and contribute to University Research departments, who are dedicated to improving our knowledge and understanding of how to treat this condition and live a better and fulfilling life both now and in the future.

You can contact us at www.asthmapods.com/ about apod/contact.

Struggling for Air and Turning Blue

Two-year-old Hannah and her five-year-old sister had a great day at Disneyworld Paris before returning to Disney’s log cabin accommodation. Unfortunately that evening Hannah developed a cough that within minutes was so bad that her mother was boiling a kettle to get the steam to assist her breathing. When her lips turned blue her father knew that things had really taken a turn for the worse.

Disney reception answered the phone within seconds and within 5 minutes French paramedics had arrived with oxygen and took Hannah and her mum off to hospital, where she was immediately put on a nebuliser and kept in until the following afternoon. This was the start of ten years of asthma and between the ages of two and five many trips to the accident & emergency unit.

Hannah is now 13 and very rarely has to use her inhalers; however it could have all been so different, if the reception had not answered the phone in time, had the French paramedics not been so effective; then Hannah would be just another statistic.

How could a day at Disney, even though it was cold, make Hannah so sick that she went blue and nearly died. Her parents never imagined that it was asthma.

It’s better to be informed.

Asthma can creep into anyone's family. You will know some friends, neighbours, or relatives with asthma.

Your asthma symptoms may differ from someone else's and require different treatment. Obtaining information about asthma gives you options. Detailed information on asthma is available through our site www.asthmapods.com

Once you have the knowledge, you can take a more active role in your own health care. If you are uncertain with a diagnosis, get a second opinion. Discuss your medication with your doctor / physician. Learn to become your own best health-care friend.

Although most people with asthma develop it before age 5, asthma can develop at any stage in your life. Some asthma symptoms improve or worsen over the years. Coughing and wheezing in babies can be confused with asthma as the symptoms are often the same, one of the most common lung conditions for babies under 12 months is bronchiolitis. Most doctors do not diagnose asthma in babies until after 12 months, by this time the muscles around the airways in the lungs should have developed.

With some asthmatics coughing is the only symptom present; children with chronic coughs could have asthma even though wheezing is not present. Doctors understand that asthma symptoms come in varying and different combinations of intensity. They look for the same symptoms:

Asthma itself is not hereditary; however there does seem to be a hereditary component to the tendency to develop asthma.

Whether or not an individual develops asthma is influenced by other factors such as environment, social conditions, infections, irritants and allergies.

As parents there is nothing we can do to fully prevent our child from getting asthma, asthma can be frightening for both you and your child. The signs and triggers are there, don’t risk your baby / childs life – get a medical diagnosis if any of the above symptoms are persistent.

Hannah’s story is true life; she is happy and healthy at 13 years of age, thanks to the French paramedics, who knew exactly what to do.

Don’t turn your back on Asthma - get an Apod

Issued from London on 19th April 2007 at 08.00

The asthma inhaler has been transformed. With cool modern colours including two that glow in the dark and a thermo chromic (heat change sensitive) version; children, teenagers and sufferers of all ages now have a clever, stylish choice that also keeps their inhalers clean.

Apods™ can be purchased online at www.asthmapods.com

The iconic looking Apod™ is a new funky clip-on case that encapsulates the ugly old inhaler. The unique design is easy to use, aesthetically pleasing and sits comfortably in your hand. An integral cap that won’t get lost prevents debris/dust from pockets, handbags etc, getting inside the inhaler, keeping what you inhale limited to the medicine

Ben Oakley Design Limited (BOD), designer of the Apod™, created Computer Aided Design drawings with technicians at The Royal College of Art, London.

Our premium Apod™ product is UK food standard and toy industry approved. The Apod™ is 100% recyclable and manufactured in the UK. B&K Ltd, who are affiliated with Action for Blind People, are packaging this new product. Included within the packaging is the Apod™ leaflet which heightens asthma awareness for both sufferers and carers.

BOD commissioned an independent survey from OMD, one of the largest and most influential media communications specialists operating in 80 countries worldwide. Among numerous other findings, nearly half of the survey respondents thought the Apod™ would reduce the stigma of using inhalers in public (Summary at www.asthmapods.com).

We are raising global awareness and plan to donate a percentage of our profits to fund research at selected universities with accredited asthma research departments, such as Imperial College London and University of Pittsburgh, USA.

According to US Census Bureau 2004 extrapolations, the estimated global population of people who are managing asthma at any given time exceeds 374 million. (see asthma facts by country at www.asthmapods.com click on ‘asthma info’)

Ben Oakley, designer and inventor of the Apod™ said;

“This is a fantastic product solution to a brilliant invention. The inhaler has saved thousands of lives; we have now transformed it with a new iconic identity”.

Read the Apod™ story ‘How change can happen in one dramatic moment’ at www.asthmapods.com/about apod, see celebrities; Nicola Tappenden, Lee Ryan

Contact details

Ben Oakley, Managing Director

Tel: 08447 700284

E-mail: ben@asthmapods.com

Paul Tebbutt, Marketing Director

Tel: 08447 700284

E-mail: paul@asthmapods.com

Our press release is available in the following language translations;French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Urdu, Greece, Italy

Please e-mail us at info@asthmapods.com if you would like us to forward a pdf copy of your chosen language

Small changes can make massive differences. Asthma has reached epidemic proportions globally and no one knows why or how, we just know that the number of triggers that bring on an attack are increasing.

It is estimated that over 374million citizens globally are managing asthma. The condition is growing throughout the globe, paediatric asthma is rising in developed countries due to parent awareness, knowledge and medical advice; asthma is believed to be the leading cause of visits to Doctors in children aged under 5. So in practice we all know someone who is managing asthma or a parent caring for their child.

Asthma rise fueled by greenhouse gases 'the Tipping Point.'

Millions of poor and minority children in America's cities will likely suffer even higher rates of asthma as the result of a "powerful one-two punch" of higher levels of pollen and changes in the types of molds spurred by global warming, along with unhealthy urban air masses caused by the burning of fossil fuel by cars, trucks and buses, according to a warning issued by Harvard researchers (USA) and the American Public Health Association.

The Harvard report was made public during a news event organized by the Results for America (RFA) project of the Civil Society Institute. The report states: "Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), in addition to trapping more heat, promote pollen production in plants, increase fungal growth, and alter species composition in plant communities by favoring opportunistic weeds (like ragweed and poison ivy).

Other emissions from burning fossil fuels in cars, trucks and buses form photochemical smog that causes and exacerbates asthma, while diesel particulates help deliver and present pollen and mold allergens to the immune system in the lungs. The combination of air pollutants, aeroallergens, heat waves and unhealthy air masses increasingly associated with a changing climate - causes damage to the respiratory systems, particularly for growing children, and these impacts disproportionately affect poor and minority groups in the inner cities."

Christine Rogers, Ph.D., senior research scientist, Exposure, Epidemiology and Risk Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, said: "This is a real wake-up call for people who mistakenly think global warming is only going to be a problem way off in the future or that it has no impact on their lives in any meaningful way”.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director, American Public Health Association, said: "All Americans living in our cities are at increased risk of respiratory disease due to greater concentrations of air pollution - soot and ozone - in urban environments”.

Dr. Paul R. Epstein, associate director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, said: "The good news is that we already have the answers about what to do. Local initiatives on individual, organizational, city, state and regional levels can go a long way towards making things better. Converting from fossil fuel use to greater energy efficiency, hybrid vehicles, alternative sources, 'green buildings,' and improved public transport would reduce CO2 levels now altering plant growth and help to stabilize the climate. A properly financed clean energy transition would produce many new industries, new jobs and boost international trade. The clean energy transition can become the engine of growth for the 21st century, helping to alleviate poverty and initiate a more equitable, healthy and sustainable form of development."

BACKGROUND

Asthma is a complex and serious disease characterized by lung inflammation resulting in shortness of breath, or wheezing. It commonly begins in childhood, and frequently requires doctor visits, medications, emergency visits or hospitalizations. According to a recent report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the prevalence of asthma in the US adult population is approximately 7.5 percent (currently 22 million). The estimated cost in the U.S. of treating asthma in those younger than 18 years of age is $3.2 billion per year.

Allergic diseases are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S., affecting roughly 17 percent of the population, and costing the health care system about $18 billion annually.

Asthmapods team is dedicated to bringing you research from around the world to highlight how our environment affects our wellbeing. With world asthma day at the beginning of this month we at asthmapods have been contributing to asthma societies around the globe from Alaska to Malaysia and nearly every country in between encouraging promotion and raising the awareness of asthma worldwide. We would like to thank our global customers who are raising awareness through utilising the Apod for their standard 200mdi inhalers.

You can personlise your inhaler by visiting www.asthmapods.com just like Michael Urie in Ugly Betty and the villain in James Bond, Casino Royal.

So what does the teachings and practices of Zen have to do with the way we all feel?

Simply put it enables us to get a true understanding of life and our nature, it teaches self discovery; knowing and finding who you are, what you are and how to enlighten your mind. It awakes you to the wonder of simply being alive; being aware of a moment in time, how it unfolds, feeling joy and gratitude for your every day and life experiences, it’s about greater awareness

Zen is free from dogma, it has never given importance to religious worship, scriptures or symbols except as a route to achieving enlightenment and meditation, therefore Zen should not interfere with your own religious beliefs, indeed it supports the three qualities of faith, courage and enquiry. Seeing your life as a question, a mystery, that you can find an answer to if you are willing to explore it.

We talk about children being in a child like state, where they become completely absorbed and caught up in what they are doing. They are in a trance using their unconscious resources, their attention is completely focused and their mind is in unity with what they are doing. They are by-passing their conscious mind i.e. what is happening at this moment and around them.

So how does discovering the art of meditation and Zen assist with asthma? It’s because it teaches us to discipline our mind, to concentrate on one point of focus, in this instance our wellbeing, enjoying the feeling of sunlight, wind and rain, being alive and part of nature. We discover the beauty of the world around us and enter unconscious competence

The team at Asthmapods have researched over 1000 sites worldwide to put together comprehensive links that have outstanding information relating to the words & phrases listed below to make it easy for clients and visitors of Asthmapods to improve their knowledge and understanding of the symptoms of asthma and the medications, conditions and triggers:

If you are in an environment where rubbish is allowed to build up in bins, then you will definitely be increasing your health risk as exposure to decaying rubbish or handling rubbish can increase health problems, including asthma.

In the United Kingdom a government funded study in March of this year found no reports of health problems in residents with fortnightly collections. The World Health Organisation recommends rubbish should be collected in temperate climates, like the United Kingdom every week. In hotter climates rubbish should be removed more frequently because researchers have found that the level of bacteria and fungal spores in the air above bins, that have not been emptied for two weeks, was more that ten times that in locations where there was a weekly collection.

It is astonishing that in the UK 140 Councils in England have moved to fortnightly emptying to encourage recycling and cost cuts, despite warnings of an increased risk in infestation and health. In a new report published in the “Journal Science of the Total environment” found that rubbish left out for long periods produced tens of thousands more spores. Dr Tom Kosatsky, a medical epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal said “if rubbish is decaying for two weeks and heated by warm weather it provides a fertile breeding ground for spores. Exposure to fungi on this level can trigger sore throats, respiratory symptoms, weakness, faintness, depression, asthma and other allergenic reactions.

The cost of treating asthma attacks is well documented throughout the western world, yet governments continue to put their citizens at risk by ignoring well founded evidence from qualified doctors and scientists.

Any cost savings in deferring the collection of rubbish will only be wiped out by the cost of treatment to those affected.

We at Asthmapods suspect that it won’t be long before a local authority / council is sued for making their residents ill due to a much higher exposure to spores and fungi.

Asthmapods launched the Apod in April 2007 and we are already selling worldwide in over eight countries. We would like to thank all our customers who have bought the Apod and ask them to continue to carry their Apod with pride.

The best way to raise awareness is to talk about the condition and inform people, especially regarding what to do in an attack .The Apod is helping as a talking point and from research conducted encouraging sufferers to carry their inhalers. These two combined will create better management of the condition.

We would like to hear from you any thoughts, feedback or genuine stories to include in our monthly newsletter. Whether as a carer or sufferer it is comforting to read other peoples experiences. Shared experiences can provide essential knowledge for others. If you have anything you want to say please email us at info@asthmapods.com.

You can buy the Apod online at www.asthmapods.com.

The Asthmapods team.

Researchers into the common cold say “catching a chill really does help colds develop” and advise everyone to wrap up warm to keep the common cold and viruses at bay.

Naturopath and nutritionists promote the concept of a healthy body in balance wont come down with a cold, not even from winter weather. They believe it is a myth that being cold will make you catch cold; you get sick when your immune system is low, or you are exposed to a virus or bacteria that your body can’t fight.

Previous research has dismissed any link between chilling and viral infection as having no scientific basis however researchers in Cardiff, Wales say they can prove that drops in temperature in the body really can cause a cold to develop. Clare Johnson and Professor Ron Eccles from Cardiff university common cold centre recruited 180 volunteers, half of whom they got to immerse their feet in ice cold water for 20 minutes, the other 90 in tests during the common cold season sat with their feet in an empty bowl.

During the next 4 – 5 days almost a third, 29% of the chilled volunteers developed cold symptoms compared to just 9% in the controlled group. Professor Eccles said there was a simple explanation as to why chilly feet could lead to the development of cold virus symptoms “when colds are circulating in the community many people are mildly affected and show no symptoms, if they become chilled this causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supply’s the white cells that fight infection. The reduced defences in the nose allow the virus to get stronger and common cold symptoms to develop”

Although the chilled volunteers believe they have caught a cold, what has in fact happened is that the dominant infection has taken hold. Professor Eccles added “a cold nose may be one of the major factors that cause common colds to be seasonal; when the cold weather comes we wrap ourselves up in winter coats to keep warm however our nose is directly exposed to the cold air”. As mentioned above cooling of the nose slows down clearance of viruses from the nose and slows down the white cells that fight infection.

Mothers can be more confident in their advice to children to wrap up well in winter.

Five plus two easy steps, precautionary measures:

When we are exposed to others who are coughing and sneezing we need to take preventive precautions, Naturopath and nutritionist Candace Paul, N. D., Ph.D., who practices in California, recommends that we all take preventive action.

Extra vitamin C through our diet, plenty of rest, eat a low sugar diet - sugar impairs your immunity, and pay attention to your body. When you notice the first sign of a sniffle use natural remedies such as Echinacea that will help the body heal itself, get lots of sleep and drink plenty of fluid. Be aware that supplements are no match for a well balanced diet and regular exercise.

At Asthmapods we set out to create a remarkable product that the right people would seek out, we are not interested in average products for average people, indeed combining all of our market research and feedback enabled us to create the Apod. What better endorsement to date than feedback from our customers around the globe.

The Apod is raising awareness of Asthma everywhere. The standard 200mdi inhaler fits snugly into our iconic design; the Apod.

At Asthmapods we set out to create a remarkable product that the right people would seek out, we are not interested in average products for average people, indeed combining all of our market research and feedback enabled us to create the Apod. What better endorsement to date than feedback from our customers around the globe.

The Apod is raising awareness of Asthma everywhere. The standard 200mdi inhaler fits snugly into our iconic design; the Apod.

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Mothers Vitamin deficiency linked to asthma in children.

Pregnant women could help prevent their children developing asthma and other allergies by eating food which is rich in vitamin E and D, new research has suggested.

Vitamin D is known as the “Sunshine Vitamin” since it is made by the body after being in the sun for 10 – 15 mins. Exposure to sunshine 3 times per week is enough to produce the body’s requirement of vitamin D.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant; it plays a key role in the formation of red blood cells. A healthy intake can be achieved by a diet rich in leafy green vegetable & nuts.

Children whose mothers had low levels of vitamin E while they were pregnant are five times more likely to develop asthma or wheezing than children's whose mothers had high levels of the vitamin, say scientists from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The researchers say it is important for pregnant mothers to make sure their vitamin E levels are good.

An embryo's lungs are fully developed sixteen weeks after conception. Hence, during those sixteen weeks, a mother's vitamin E levels play an important role. Successful lung development is closely linked to levels of vitamin E.

The research team had previously reported a link between low maternal vitamin E levels during pregnancy and wheezing in children aged 2 years. In this study they wanted to see if the link was also present for children aged 5 years.

Team leader, Dr. Graham Devereux, believes vitamin E not only helps lung development, but also influences airway inflammation. After looking at 1,861 pregnant women over a five-year period, and monitoring their children, the team found that kids whose mothers were in the lowest 20% (vitamin E levels) were much more likely to develop asthma and wheezing by the time they were five years old.

Surprisingly, they found that the children's vitamin E levels during their first five years of life did not seem to influence whether or not they developed asthma or wheezing - the influencing factor was the pregnant mother's level.

As reported by Medical News Today, Deveraux added that pregnant women should focus on good diet. He said "Pregnant women should not take vitamin E just because of this study. They should eat a balanced, healthy diet. It is possible that declining intake of vitamin E in the last 50 years may have contributed to the increase in asthma in children.

Dietary Sources rich in Vitamin E

Shared experiences can provide essential knowledge for others. If you have anything you want to say please email us at info@asthmapods.com.

You can buy the Apod online at www.asthmapods.com

The Asthmapods team