Air Date: 9-14-2012| Episode: 256
Angel Waldron is a consumer health advocate with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), the premier non-profit patient organization serving more than 60 million people with asthma and allergies…
Full Description:
Angel Waldron is a consumer health advocate with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), the premier non-profit patient organization serving more than 60 million people with asthma and allergies. Angel is a national spokesperson for AAFA and represents the Foundation to the media. She regularly appears in broadcasts for Wall Street Journal Radio, CNN Radio and NPR as well as for ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX television affiliates to discuss asthma and allergy issues. She is recurrently quoted in articles by USA Today, Forbes magazine, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and WebMD, among others. In addition to speaking on behalf of AAFA, Angel produces the Foundation’s print and electronic health publications and manages its Web site, www.aafa.org. She has also written and edited articles for consumer health magazines such as Coping, ADVANCE and Health Monitor.
Z-Man’s Blog:
Angel spreads the word
Founded in 1953, the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) serves more than 60 million people with asthma and allergies. The AAFA’s mission is: education, advocacy and research.
Angel Waldron, spokesperson for the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, raised awareness of IAQradio’s listening audience on asthma and allergy:
Nuggets mined from today’s interview and the AAFA website:
•Asthma is a disease of the lungs in which the airways become blocked or narrowed causing breathing difficulty. This chronic disease affects 20 million Americans. Asthma is commonly divided into two types: allergic (extrinsic) asthma and non-allergic (intrinsic) asthma. There is still much research that needs to be done to fully understand how to prevent, treat and cure asthma. But, with proper management, people can live healthy and active lives.
•Allergies are diseases of the immune system that cause an overreaction to substances called “allergens.” Allergies are grouped by the kind of trigger, time of year or where symptoms appear on the body: indoor and outdoor allergies (also called “hay fever,” “seasonal,” “perennial” or “nasal” allergies), food allergies, latex allergies, insect allergies, skin allergies and eye allergies. People who have allergies can live healthy and active lives.
•25 million Americans suffer from asthma
•Asthma’s typical day in US: 44K asthma attacks, 36K kids miss school adults miss work due to asthma, 4.7K emergency room visits, 1.2K hospital admissions and 9 deaths
•Pollen, dust and mold leading allergy triggers
•Exercise leading asthma trigger
•The skin prick test is a new diagnostic tool which measures the severity of your allergic reaction to the most common food and environmental allergens
•Bronchial thermoplasty is a new treatment for severe asthma approved by the FDA in 2010 involving the delivery of controlled, therapeutic radiofrequency energy to the airway wall, thus heating the tissue and reducing the amount of smooth muscle present in the airway wall
I was very surprised to learn that the AAFA supported change in allergy medication inhaler propellants from CFCs to HFAs.
Today’s music: “I’ve Got Asthma” by the Toy Dolls.
Z-Man signing off
