Health Expert Rick Frea shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/52325/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/52325/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/52325/index http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152419/asthmatics-day Tue, 29 May 2012 10:12:00 -0400 Rick Frea Dear Fellow Asthmatics:   I just wanted to take a moment to write to my fellow asthmatics.  I understand that I've lectured in the past that you should be able to live a normal life with asthma, but if you are sick it's OK to admit you are sick.  It's OK, if not essential, that you take a day off, or even a week off.    If you're like me you're a busy, busy person.  You are a dad (or mom) with toddlers at home to... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152419/asthmatics-day http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152384/hay-fever Mon, 14 May 2012 10:48:00 -0400 Rick Frea No matter how hard you try, you cannot hide from springtime allergens.  They are ubiquitous.  You can run but you cannot hide.   About 15 percent of those inflicted with springtime allergies are allergic to tree pollen, which can travel up to 400 miles and is easily inhaled.  I wrote about tree pollen in my last post and you can read about it here.   The other 85 percent of us are inflicted with grass pollen... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152384/hay-fever http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152377/pollen-triggers Mon, 07 May 2012 08:00:00 -0400 Rick Frea Spring can be a difficult time for asthmatics, especially those of us with outdoor allergies.  When the trees start pollinating, you can expect allergic asthmatics to start suffering from itchy and watery eyes, nasal congestion, runny nose, scratchy throat, and wheezes.     It was a wonderful treat this year when summer decided to show up on March 21.  Yet the downside was the onset of early allergy symptoms.... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/152377/pollen-triggers http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151047/24-things-asthma Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:09:00 -0400 Rick Frea Asthma is a disease that's been described in writings that go all the way back to 5,000 B.C.  Despite it's long history, asthma experts still struggle to understand why 10 percent of people develop this disease.     Around 400 B.C. the Hippocratic writers suspected asthma was hereditary, and asthma physicians for years have suspected the same.  Yet they had no proof.     Thankfully modern scientists have been... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151047/24-things-asthma http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151756/oil-prevent-asthma Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:37:00 -0400 Rick Frea Experts studying the lifestyles of people who included fish in their diets observed that these folks had lower rates of allergies and asthma compared to people who didn't eat a lot of fish.  This keen observation lead researchers to conduct a variety of studies to see if there's a link between fish and asthma/ allergies.   Many of the studies have proven that there is indeed a link.  Studies like this French study originally... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151756/oil-prevent-asthma http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151051/10-reasons-rising Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:59:00 -0400 Rick Frea Asthma rates started to decline in the 1970s, yet between 1980 and 1995 they increased 75 percent.  Rates have continued to climb since then, with an estimated 300 million people worldwide now diagnosed with asthma.  So what occured in 1980 to account for this steep incline?   Well, no on knows for sure, although there are theories.   Here are some of my theories why asthma rates have increased... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151051/10-reasons-rising http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151043/allergies-asthma Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:21:00 -0400 Rick Frea There is a raging debate as to whether or not allergies cause asthma.  It's a proven fact that 70-85 percent of asthmatic children have allergies, so any theory that one might cause the other makes sense.  The question of the day is:  Do allergies cause asthma?    I like to think so, and here's why:   1.  Childhood-onset asthma is often allergic:  About 70 percent of childhood onset asthma is... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/151043/allergies-asthma http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150622/asthma-hereditary Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:33:00 -0400 Rick Frea As far back as 400 B.C. Hippocrates observed that asthma tends to run in families. Starting in the 1990s scientists started discovering various genes that were proven to predispose a carrier to developing diseases such as asthma, allergies and eczema.  So it took nearly 2,400 years for Hippocrates to be proven right.   According to Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory (lbl.gov), "Asthma Linked Genes... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150622/asthma-hereditary http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150621/asthma-stranded Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:31:00 -0400 Rick Frea I was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean on a beach in Half Moon Cey when my mind started to wander to my asthma column.  I wondered what life would be like if our Cruise Ship -- the Carnival Ecstasy -- sunk and I was forced to swim out here in the ocean, under the baking hot sun, for several hours or days.   The answer came easy for me because I have asthma, and in the pocket of my swimsuit was an albuterol inhaler.  It's water proof... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150621/asthma-stranded http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150135/bacteria-prevent Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:27:00 -0500 Rick Frea Did you know we have more bacteria living on and within our bodies than we have cells?  While most of us think of bacterial infections as bad, that's not always the case.  In fact, most bacteria have a symbiotic relationship with our bodies -- we both benefit.  A bacteria that lives in your stomach may even prevent a person from developing asthma.   Your stomach has acids in it to help your body digest foods.  A... http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/52325/150135/bacteria-prevent