The Balancing Act of Controlling and Managing Asthma
The Asthma In America 2017 online survey gathered insights from 1,039 individuals currently diagnosed with asthma, to understand their treatment experience and impact on their quality of life. Here are the highlights from this survey:
Living with Asthma can be a constant balancing act of controlling triggers and managing symptoms. There are so many asthma symptoms that one has to be aware of and manage, ranging from wheezing to chest tightness and pain. On average, respondents reported experiencing 8 symptoms in the previous year with shortness of breath during everyday activities and difficulty catching breath being the most annoying and frustrating symptoms.
99% of respondents had identified triggers for their asthma. More than half of the respondents noted that avoiding triggers is difficult, leading to a further sense of difficulty achieving control over asthma.
Adding to the mix are the lifestyle changes that one has to make after being diagnosed with asthma, one of the biggest one being carrying a rescue inhaler, among other changes like taking extra hygiene measures, taking medications, etc.
Apart from the lifestyle changes, asthma also has an effect on the day-to-day activities of those living with this chronic condition.
Being diagnosed with asthma and living with this condition also impacts one's family, social, and relationships adversely.
To really understand how it is to live with the chronic condition asthma, we also asked our community, how they would describe asthma in one word. The results below are telling. The journey of living with asthma can be a very emotional experience; respondents expressed that among other things, asthma can be scary, annoying, frustrating, and exhausting, and debilitating.
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