When: First Thursday morning every month - 8:30-12:00pm

Where: Brier Creek office of Growing Child Pediatrics

Who: Dr. James Poole is the medical provider and Jan Pope, RN, is the nurse coordinator

Scheduling an appointment: Call either Andrea at 544-5900 or Jan at 845-0623 to schedule an appointment.

Objectives of the clinic:

1. To provide a resource where previously diagnosed asthmatic patients can come for their yearly asthma reviews.
2. To provide a resource where newly diagnosed asthma patients can come to be evaluated and educated.
3. To provide a resource where patients can come for basic allergy testing. This sometimes helps asthma patients to identify allergic triggers to their asthma. Testing for other patients who do not have asthma is also provided.
4. To provide individualized patient care to assess problems and to plan for appropriate treatment for problems associated with allergies and asthma.

The following information was excerpted from the October 2006 report of the N.C Asthma Program of the Division of Public Health.

Asthma is chronic disease that will still find prevalent in our society today. It is a respiratory disease involving both inflammations of the airways as well as constriction of the airways. In N.C., in 2005, 17.8% of children 17 and under reported having been told be a health care provider that they have asthma. The incidence of asthma is higher for male children in N.C. The national median for lifetime asthma was 8.5% while in N.C. it was 12%; so our prevalence greatly exceeds the national media.

Asthma takes a tool on our citizens who must either miss work themselves due to asthma or stay home with a sick child. Almost 25% of children with asthma have required an emergency room or urgent care visit related to an asthma attack. In 2004, the cost for hospitalizations related to asthma exceeded $88 million dollars. African American children were more than twice as likely to visit the hospital emergency room than their white counterparts. And, children still die from asthma. The mortality rate is higher for females than males. Again, our mortality rate is higher than the national average.

It is the goal of the N.C. Asthma program to address the issues that asthma produce in N.C. to ensure that all of our citizens have adequate treatment and education in order to reduce the burden of asthma in N.C.

1. SLEEP – Do you wake up at night with asthma more than 2 times a month?
2. LEARNING – How much time have you missed school due to your asthma in the last 6 months?
3. ALBUTEROL – Do you use a quick-relief inhaler more than 2 times per week?
4. Do you refill your asthma prescription for a quick-relief bronchodilator more than 2 times per year?
5. PLAY – Are you less than fully active in exercise and play due to your asthma?

Children with well-controlled asthma will answer “no” or “none” to all of these questions related to the Rules of Two: they do not use a quick-relief inhaler more than twice per week: they do not wake at night with asthma more than twice per month: and they do not need a refill of their quick-relief bronchodilator inhaler more than twice per year (from The Asthma Educator’s handbook. Fanta, Carter, Stieb and IIave, copyright, 2007. They should also have activity normal for age and unrestricted, and should not be missing school due to their asthma.

If your child’s asthma is not well-controlled, as outlined above, make an appointment today with your regular medical provider, or in our asthma/allergy clinic for a “tune-up”.