By Shana Helps
BYU student Nick Bailey has never experienced life without an inhaler.
Bailey has asthma, a disease characterized by tightening of the airways necessary for breathing. When he has an asthma attack, he feels his lungs shut down, and can only breathe one-fourth of a normal breath, he said.
'I have to stop and sit down, heart pounding like crazy,' said Bailey, 23, a junior from Orem, Utah majoring in political science. 'It''s pounding a lot more than a normal person after strenuous activity. I can almost feel it; it''s pounding so fast. Lungs just not getting anything out at all.'
If Bailey forgets his inhaler, which happens often, his attacks last as long as half an hour, he said. However, one pump from an inhaler can stop the attack almost instantly.
Bailey''s temporary relief comes from albuterol, a stimulant that widens the lung''s air passages to ease breathing. He uses it four or five times a day, which is four or five more than he is supposed to, he said.
If Bailey uses a preventative inhaler, Vanceril, morning and night, he is less dependent on albuterol, he said. His wife, Jana, reminds him to use Vanceril.
'I want him around longer and if you don''t do the preventative inhaler, you won''t be able to open your airways,' said Jana Bailey. 'It''ll keep closing and closing and closing until it gets smaller and smaller and smaller. That could cause major problems as you get older.'
Only 15-20 percent of asthmatics with a prescription for Vanceril and other inhaled steroids use them, despite their preventing attacks and hospital visits, according to WebMD Health.
Austin Hansen, 22, a sophomore from Anaheim, Calif. majoring in accounting also has asthma. However, his asthma has gradually improved, so he rarely has an attack, he said.
As a child, Hansen took asthma medication that gave him stomachaches and fevers, he said. As a teen-ager he had inhalers at home and in his backpack. Now he does not carry anything with him.
'Usually when it happens, I''ll just sit down and try and control my breathing.' Hansen said. 'It''s pretty rare when it happens, so I don''t stress out.'
People are usually unsympathetic toward asthmatics, Bailey said. They are concerned if someone has a seizure, but they do not understand the heavy breathing in asthmatics.
Asthma attacks are scary, as the asthmatic fights for breath, Hansen said.
'It feels like you''re being partially choked all the time,' he said. 'It''s like running a marathon with your mouth closed and a cotton ball up one of your nostrils.'
People who understand asthma are those who have been around asthmatics, Bailey said. While he is usually around friends and family, there are times when an informed public would be helpful.
'If I''m in a building or a mall and I suddenly have an asthma attack, it''d be great to be able to go to the security in the mall, like part of a first aid kit or something, and I could just get a puff and I''d be fine,' Bailey said.
People should understand how vital inhalers are for asthmatics, he said. Boy Scout and other leaders should remind young people to bring their medications on trips or campouts, otherwise they have to refrain from activities, or suffer the consequences.
Asthma is more common in people who have allergies, according to WebMD Health.
Hansen had attacks when the warm Santa Ana winds regularly blew through Southern California, bringing dust, dirt and pollen with them, he said. His mother excused him from school then.
Hansen also had attacks when mowing the lawn, he said. While it got him out of work, he feels asthma''s effects when he mows the lawn now.
'My skin will start to tingle a little bit and I can kind of feel my chest,' Hansen said. 'I think it''s mostly a psychological thing now, because I remember.'
Bailey agrees asthma is strongly psychological. Understanding the cause is key to discovering a cure, something that could happen soon due to the speed of technology, he said.
'All it is, is my brain telling my lungs that I have asthma,' Bailey said. 'It''s a mental thing.'
There is no known cure for asthma, and Hansen does not believe one exists. Unless scientists create a perfect race through stem cell research, people must learn to deal with their asthma, he said.
'Anyone who petitions for money to research asthma is probably scamming whoever they''re going to get money from,' Hansen said. 'It''s one of those convenient things to research, but I don''t see how anyone''s going to find something to fix it.'
Hansen was not outcast because of his asthma, and only the military has been hesitant to accept him, he said.
'When I was a kid, it meant I couldn''t breathe well when I ran or when the winds came around, and that''s how I explained it to them,' Hansen said. 'I wouldn''t say I''ve ever been discriminated against or poked fun of.'
Bailey''s worst time with asthma attacks are during season changes, or playing sports, he said.
Hansen had to work around his asthma to play sports, he said. He occasionally had to leave basketball and football games because running left him struggling for air, he said. He had fevers for a few days afterward.
'I wouldn''t say I lived a deprived life because of it, but there are things you have to think about ahead of time,' Hansen said.
While having asthma bothers Bailey, it has not impeded him, as long as he has his inhaler, he said. There are advantages, too.
'I get special treatment sometimes,' Bailey said. 'My parents always took extra care to look out for me. My wife does the same thing.'