Asthma....is the Phoenix air good or bad for people with asthma?

[azriverfan.]

Dyspnea is a sensation of feeling short of breath. It is not always attributed to pulmonary disease. Patients who have anxiety and other psychiatric disorders(panic disorder, conversion disorder, munchausen syndrome) will often claim they have asthma despite normal spirometry/pulmonary function testing and physical exam findings (saturating at 98% on room air, normal pulse, clear lung sounds, normal respiratory rate). Furthermore, their spirogram will not change when given albuterol. Asthma is reservsible. People who have genuine asthma require medication and it will not correct through a change of environment alone.

[Valley Native]

Besides the pollution and dust, the general dryness can contribute to sinus/breathing problems. Sjogrens Syndrome is something that is fairly common in older people, and they can suffer from dryness of the sinus cavity, mouth, and ears as a result. This can lead to upper respiratory problems. Sjogrens is not actually caused by our dry climate, but the dry air tends to make the condition worse.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Besides the pollution and dust, the general dryness can contribute to sinus/breathing problems. Sjogrens Syndrome is something that is fairly common in older people, and they can suffer from dryness of the sinus cavity, mouth, and ears as a result. This can lead to upper respiratory problems. Sjogrens is not actually caused by our dry climate, but the dry air tends to make the condition worse.

It is not very common. The incidence is approximately 4 in 100,000 people. One study stated that among the elderly, the incidence was 0.1 to 4.8% wheras the incidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis is 0.5% to 1.0% of the general population according to the CDC. It should be noted that patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis report their symptoms improve in our warm dry climate. I agree that patients with SS will suffer more in a dry climate but it's not common and certainly not more common than OA, and RA.

Our dry climate also prevents a lot of vegetation and mold from growing which also cause sinus problems. Furthermore, dust mite allergy is more prevalent in humid environments. Mites absorb humidity from the atmosphere as they don't drink. People intuitively assume that since Arizona is a desert and we have dust, that our dust mite allergy is worse here. Not true

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

It is not very common. The incidence is approximately 4 in 100,000 people. One study stated that among the elderly, the incidence was 0.1 to 4.8% wheras the incidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis is 0.5% to 1.0% of the general population according to the CDC. It should be noted that patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis report their symptoms improve in our warm dry climate. I agree that patients with SS will suffer more in a dry climate but it's not common and certainly not more common than OA, and RA.

I was going by personal experience because both my mother and my aunt have Sjogrens, and both are in their 80s. The ironic thing is that my parents moved here from Ohio in the 1950s before I was born, and the main reason they moved was my dad was offered a job at Motorola ... not because of the climate. They did consider the change in climate as a minor reason to move to Phoenix, and my mother loved the sunshine & low humidity during the first decade or so. Later in life when she was diagnosed with Sjogrens Syndrome, the dry air became very intolerable. Only the summer monsoon and periodic winter days contain enough humidity to where the effects from Sjogrens are lessened a little.