Simple changes to environment can aid in stopping asthma symptoms

By Keith Loria

It’s estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that more than 16 million adults and 7 million children suffer from asthma in the United States and that more than 300 million worldwide have been diagnosed with it.  

“Asthma is something that I really have a big interest in,” Dr. Paul Detjen, MD, selected as a Chicago Top Doctor by TopTierMD as a top rated allergist and immunologist in Chicago, said. “It’s not that hard to take care of. What our office really does is making the diagnosis, then communicating the diagnosis and information to educate the patients so they understand the reasons they are having the symptoms they are having.”

The most important thing, Dr. Detjen says, is to identify correctly what the causes are and to have patients understand that asthma can be controlled in more than a quarter of all cases.  

“When you get them better and they feel better for the first time in years, then they are your partner and will do what you say and you can make a massive difference in their lives,” Dr. Detjen said. “You need to first find out what people are allergic to and then give assistance in the appropriate methods of avoiding that, whether it’s dust or mold or grass - identify the cause, get rid of it and stop breathing it.”

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports that asthmas incidents have increased 75 percent over the last 10 years and that the number of people with asthma will grow by more than 100 million by 2025. Dr. Detjen feels this number can go down.

“A lot of it is sitting down face to face and taking a long history,” Dr. Detjen said. “If you talk to patients long enough, they will tell you the diagnosis. The fun part of what we do is that we are like detectives. The patient may blame the cranberry drink they just drank, but we go and talk to them, step by step, and then can confirm with a skin test or blood test.”

According to the National Center for Health Statistic, asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children under 15.

“There are a couple of medical problems that people don’t think of that worsen your asthma,” Dr. Detjen said. “Sometimes it’s a matter of kids having a sinus infection that they don’t even know they have, sometimes they have acid reflux that worsens their asthma and sometimes it’s being around the cat. If you eliminate the problem, you can markedly decrease symptoms over time.”

More than 13 million doctor's office visits come from patients complaining of symptoms of asthma and half a million emergency room visits are because of asthma related issues.

“Asthma is always big and Cook County has one of the highest mortalities for asthma in the country,” Dr. Detjen said. “It remains the number one admitted diagnosis in most pediatric emergency rooms in the country. Most emergency room visits and hospitalizations could be considered a failure of outpatient care. Something went wrong. You didn’t find the cat or diagnose the sinus infection or watch the inhaler technique where they are not getting the proper medicine. You didn’t communicate effectively. It’s all these extra steps you need to go through to help the patient have a plan in hand for finding out what’s causing this so you can stop it.”

Dr. Paul Detjen, MD, was selected by TopTierMD as a Chicago Top Doctor and is considered to be best in allergy and immunology in Chicago. He specializes in the treatment of asthma, allergic rhinitis and food allergies.