Susan Jones Brooks now knows she's had asthma since childhood. But her condition had gone undiagnosed for many years. Bronchitis was often blamed for her bad colds and persistent cough.

Brooks doesn't have the wheezing often associated with asthma. “But the coughing was astronomical,” Brooks said. “I can remember having a cough since I was tiny—always at Christmas time.” She has a type of asthma that often starts with a cold or a viral infection, so cold season has always been a difficult time.

A serious asthma attack in October sent Brooks to the hospital. This episode was not preceded by a cold. Brooks suspects the attack could have been caused by a combination of triggers, the environmental conditions doctors believe cause asthma attacks.

“I'd had a cough for about three weeks and hadn't been sleeping well,” she remembers. “Then I went on a church retreat one weekend during ragweed season and slept outside in a hammock. And the building where we held meetings may have had mold in its air conditioning unit.

Whatever the trigger, Brooks' cough continued to worsen until she had trouble catching her breath. She decided to stop by MUSC Emergency Services. It was the right decision. She was admitted to the hospital that night for observation and ended up spending the next 12 days there.

While she was in the hospital, Allen Kaplan, M.D., an asthma and allergy specialist at MUSC, was called in for a consultation. “Dr. Kaplan made medication recommendations immediately that helped me get better much faster,” Brooks said.

“She needed an asthma specialist,” Kaplan said. “After she was out of the hospital, she was still symptomatic,” Kaplan helped Brooks find the right combination of medicines to control her asthma.

“The important thing is to find a treatment regimen that is comfortable for patients and allows them to function optimally,” Kaplan said. Brooks has started to get sick twice since she was hospitalized, but both times she was able to stop the problem by adjusting the medicines prescribed by Kaplan.

Brooks also has decided to undergo extensive allergy testing in hopes of finding out more about what causes her asthma. Sixty to 70 percent of adults and 90 percent of children have an allergic component to their asthma.

“Many people come in with more than one problem,” Kaplan said. “They may have asthma as well as hay fever, sinusitis or skin allergies.” At MUSC, allergists and lung specialists who have experience in treating asthma work together to evaluate patients.

“We use the latest methods in treating asthma,” Kaplan said. “and we have access to research into allergic mechanisms.”

For Brooks, getting a cold is no longer a catastrophe. “I feel confident now, and I know I have someone to call,” she said. “I've been pleased with the care I've received. I wouldn't go anyplace else.”

Editor's note: The article is reprinted from Checkup newsletter, produced by MUSC Creative Services.

About Asthma

The American Lung Association has declared asthma one of the fastest growing public health threats of the century. A person with asthma may have a combination, or may have only one:

• wheezing
• tight feeling in chest
• coughing
• shortness of breath

In an asthma “attack,” airways in the lungs become inflamed. (Airway tissues can swell in the way that skin swells when it is scratched.) Muscles tighten and too much mucous is produced in air passages. All this combines to make breathing difficult.

Asthma Triggers

Some things that cause an asthma attack include: q viruses or respiratory infections (cold, influenza, pneumonia)

• particles in the air (dust, pollen)
• gases
• cold air
• animals
• some foods
• household products
• cigarette smoke or air pollution
• sleep (in people with nocturnal asthma)
• mold
• feathers
• drugs
• perfume