Steps You Can Take to Control Your Asthma

By Desert Star Staff

Did you know asthma affects 1 in 13 people in the United States (U.S.)? Asthma is a long-term condition that can make it harder for you to breathe because the airways of your lungs become inflamed and narrow. So, if you have the disease - or think you do - don’t tough it out. While there’s no cure for asthma, it can usually be managed by taking critical steps to help you live a whole and active life.

Here are some essential facts to know first:

* Asthma affects some communities more than others. For example, black people and American Indian/ Alaska Native people have the highest asthma rates of any racial or ethnic group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, black people are over 40% more likely to have asthma than white people.

* Asthma rates vary within some communities. For example, Puerto Rican Americans have twice the asthma rate of the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population.

* Some groups are more likely to have severe consequences from asthma. For example, the CDC found that Black people are almost four times more likely to be hospitalized because of their asthma than White people.

* Almost twice as many women as men have asthma.

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Even if you experience asthma differently than others, you can still take action to try to control your symptoms and begin doing the things you love. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends these four steps:

Talk to a healthcare provider. You can work with a healthcare provider to set up an asthma action plan. This plan explains how to manage your asthma, what medicines to take, and when and what to do if your symptoms worsen. It also tells you what to do in an emergency.

Know and track your asthma symptoms. For example, are you experiencing coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or shortness of breath? Tell a healthcare provider about them, and keep track of any changes. Then, you and the provider can know if your treatment plan works.

Identify and manage your triggers. Some common asthma triggers include dust, mold, pollen, pests like cockroaches or rodents, and pet hair. The asthma action plan can help you determine what stimuli worsen your asthma and how to manage them.

Avoid cigarette smoke.

If you smoke, talk to a healthcare provider about ways to help you quit. If you have loved ones who smoke, ask them to stop. Do your best to avoid smoke in shared indoor spaces, including your home and car.

Asthma doesn’t have to stop you from leading an entire and active life.

Learn more about asthma and how to manage it from NHLBI’s Learn More Breathe Better(r) program at nhlbi. nih.gov/breathebetter.

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Features

The Wesak Buddha Full Moon Festival

There is a valley lying at a rather high altitude in the Himalayan ranges in Tibet. With mountains on both sides, a stream running through it, the land is vast and wind-swept, once covered with ancient ice. It is a place of titanic forces. Here at the moment of the full moon in May, the Wesak Festival, occurs (this year, Friday, May 5). The Wesak Valley is filled with pilgrims from around the world. Among those gathered is a group of great Beings, custodians of God’s plan for humanity, known as the “Knowers of Divinity.”

The Wesak Festival occurs under the full moonlight of Taurus (this year we also have a lunar eclipse, something in form disappears). Wesak (holy waters) is the great Eastern festival of the Buddha, expressing the wisdom, light and divine purpose of God. Buddha and his brother, the Christ (Pisces World Teacher) are present at the Wesak Festival. The Christ represents the Love of God.

Wesak, a day of supreme spiritual impact, is not a celebration of the past. It is a real, present, living event, a sacred ceremony. Present with the Buddha (Wisdom) and the Christ (Love) is the united spiritual Hierarchy (inner spiritual government) and the Forces of Enlightenment, emanating from the heart of God. This energy flows outward into human consciousness, “illuminating the minds of men.” (men = Sanskrit for “thinkers.”)

The energy flowing into the Earth at Wesak transmits divine principles of love and wisdom, of which the Buddha and the Christ, always in unison, represent. Together they evoke, awaken and pour forth a spiritual demand that the immediate future demonstrate what is deeply needed – that of active Peace on earth and Goodwill within all of humanity.

At the moment of the full moon the Buddha can be seen in the clouds above