4th of July Asthma

From Pat Bass, About.com GuideJuly 4, 2010

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asthma and alcohol

Happy Independence Day!

Many of you are likely to head out for some 4th of July celebrations. What happens to your asthma if you drink alcohol? Do the firework displays aggravate your asthma? Is there anything else about 4th of July that aggravates your asthma?

Research has been mixed with some studies showing benefit and others showing alcohol makes asthma worse. On the benefit side, alcohol may:

Directly act on the smooth muscle of your lungs causing bronchodilation.
Decrease airway sensitivity making triggers less irritative to your airways
Depress your immune system and decrease antibody production

On the other hand, as many as 33% of asthmatics report developing symptoms following alcohol consumption. While a number of different alcoholic drinks caused symptoms, wine was by far the biggest culprit. While sulfites are known to trigger asthma in susceptible individuals and are in high quantities in may types of wine, other components of wine may also cause asthma exacerbations.

I was not able to find any data on the 4th of July, but imagine if you get to close to some of the smoke or some of the smells it could be a problem.

If you plan to have a holiday drink in celebration of the 4th of July, you might do better with something you have had before. Make sure you know how it might affect your asthma and, as always, be prepared.

Does alcohol effect your asthma? What about the 4th of July? Leave a comment here or go to the forum to participate in the discussion about asthma and alcohol..

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!!

Sources

Robin Cuddy, Guohua Li. The role of alcohol in asthma: A review of clinical and experimental studies. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 19, Issue 6, October 2001.