Asthma patients attacks during travel

Travelers with asthma who use bronchiodilators (asthma inhalers) frequently before travel or participate in high altitude hiking are at an increased risk of having an asthma attack, according to the latest research.
According to background information in the article, asthma, a potentially fatal disease that occurs in two percent to four percent of young adults, is the most frequently reported preexisting illness among young adult travelers. Asthmatic travelers can be exposed to factors that trigger attacks such as pollutants, environmental allergens, intense exercise, high altitude, extreme weather conditions, and emotional stress. The course of asthma in travelers and the risk factors for developing asthma attacks during travel are unknown.
Yoav Golan, M.D., of Tel Aviv University, and colleagues conducted a prospective study among travelers 18 and older with asthma who visited the travel clinic at Tel Aviv University in 1995. The researchers screened 5,835 consecutive travelers and identified 203 patients with asthma (average age, 24; 50 percent female) who participated in the study.
Before travel, participants were assessed for presumed risk factors for asthma exacerbation and took treadmill exercise tests and lung capacity tests. After travel, participants answered questions about their travel and asthma severity during travel.
Of the 203 participants, 147 engaged in high altitude trekking and 88 had asthma attacks during travel. Among these, 40 reported worsening asthma during travel, 32 reported experiencing the worst asthma attack ever, and 11 reported a life-threatening asthma attack. The researchers identified two independent risk factors for asthma attacks during travel: frequent use of a bronchiodilator (three or more times weekly) before travel and participation in intense physical exertion during treks.
Participants who used bronchiodilators three or more times per week before travel were more than three times as likely to suffer an asthma attack, and participants who engaged in trekking were approximately twice as likely to suffer an asthma attack. When both risk factors were present, participants were more than five times as likely to suffer an attack.
“The first step in attempting to decrease morbidity of asthma during travel is to increase the awareness of both physicians and patients to the possibility that asthma might dangerously worsen during travel,” write the authors. “Optimal asthma control before travel should be achieved by adequate use of medications in any patients with active disease

.—Online