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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Q&A: I smoke and have asthma

Question: I smoke and have asthma. I wheeze after smoking, but the wheeze goes away. I rarely use my rescue inhaler when this happens. I was wondering how bad is this. Even in the morning I wheeze a little but after a while it goes away. Am I doing my lung more harm by not using the inhaler.

My humble answer: This is something you really should discuss with your physician. However, in my opinion, you really shouldn't use any medicine unless you absolutely need to. If you aren't feeling short of breath, and if the wheezes go away, there really should be no need to use a rescue inhaler like Albuterol.

The fact that you smoke, and have asthma, should be an added incentive for you to rush to quit smoking. Smoking is the #1 cause of severe asthma. However, if you stop smoking right now, you will stop any further damage, and your lungs will begin to heal.

I actually have plans to write more about this in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I will link to one of the best brochures I have ever seen on this topic. It has some great information. To view it click here.

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