6A the university daily kansan
news
tuesday,november 4,2003
Asthma sufferers can prevent winter respiratory attacks
By Christine Kelly Special to the Kansan editor@kansan.com
For Melissa Detrick, the impending first winter frost brings mixed feelings.
The Olathe junior suffers from both allergies and asthma. She said she was glad her seasonal allergies would become less of a problem, but was worried about her asthma worsening.
Detrick said the cold winter air increased the number of asthma attacks she has.
"I used to enjoy running outside as it got colder, but as my asthma got worse I could not even jog outside without having a mild asthma attack," Detrick said.
According to a new study by
the allergy and Asthma Foundation of America posted on its Web site, 150,000 people in Kansas have asthma, a year-round disease.
William Brandenberger, a doctor at Watkins Memorial Health Center at the University of Kansas, said he noticed many students thought asthma was only a problem limited to the fall and spring months.
The symptoms of asthma include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness, according the Web site.
"Students are often surprised to learn that winter can be worse for asthma sufferers than other seasons because of an increase in time students spend inside exposed to dust and mold," Bran-
Brandenberger suggested cleaning furnace filters, vacuuming carpeting, and washing bedding frequently.
denberger said.
"My asthma worsens whenever I am near my bed, since my bed is right next to a vent," she said. "I am worried it will become even worse when the heat turns on for the winter."
Doane said she would probably end up cleaning the vents herself, and would look into taking asthma medicine if she needed to;
Alexis Doane, McClouth sophomore, said she had no control over the filters in her bedroom at the Alpha Delta Pi sorority house.
Students do not need to worry about old furnace filters and
excessive mold while on campus, said Russ Buchholz, assistant director of Facilities Operations at the University.
"We replace filters every three months and test the air in our campus buildings to make sure pollen counts are less inside than they are outside," he said.
Buchholz said the building on campus with the lowest pollen rate was Haworth Hall. Haworth Hall had the strongest, most expensive filters of any building because it contained biology labs that needed to be well ventilated. Buchholz said.
Asthma costs the state of Kansas an average of $105 million per year including medical treatments, according to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation
Holly Neary, a pharmacist at Target, said medical treatments could not cure asthma, but could help control and provide long-term relief.
of America's study.
"There are a number of drugs out there, known as anti-inflammatory drugs, to help prevent airway swelling," she said. "Flovent and Vanceril, both nasal sprays, have been a really popular anti-inflammatory."
Nearly said tablets, such as Serevent and Zyflo, could be taken along with anti-inflammatory drugs and could help prevent daily symptoms.
Brandenberger said one of the newest drugs on the market, Singulair, prevented airway inflammation, decreasing the
amount of mucus in lungs and airways.
"Singulair is one of the only drugs on the market that keeps the airways open, making breathing easier and asthma attacks less frequent," he said.
John Lammli, Omaha, Neb.
junior, said he noticed immediate results after taking Singulair for his asthma.
"Once I started Singulari I was able to exercise for longer periods of time." Lammli said. "It became much easier to breathe."
This winter will be Lammli's first with Singulair, and he was optimistic.
"I am sure it will make a big difference with my asthma," he said.
- Edited by Scott Christie
Campus
Rifle-waving suspect arrested during party
The Lawrence Police Department received a report that a Johnson County Community College student waved a rifle around this weekend at a Halloween party in Lawrence.
Several University of Kansas students were at the party in the 1700 block of Louisiana Street when the student pulled the rifle out.
Witnesses told the Lawrence Police Department they heard shouting coming from a white car that had pulled up to a party at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. Witnesses told officers that partygoers began throwing cigarette butts in the car and kicking it, according to Kim Murphree, Lawrence Police spokeswoman.
A passenger in the vehicle then pulled out a bolt-action rifle but did not point it at anyone or fire any shots, Murphree said.
Witnesses told Lawrence police that a partygoer then wrestled the rifle away from the suspect and smashed the windshield, Murphree said.
The suspect was arrested while attempting to leave the scene. The rifle was recovered in the vehicle.
Joe Hartigan
Police investigate man giving children candy
The Lawrence Police Department is investigating witness claims that a man was trying to entice children into his car by offering them candy at 8:30 p.m. on Halloween.
A witness told the police he saw the suspect, driving a silver sports car, asking children if they wanted any candy in the 1100 block of Andover Street, said Kim Murphree, Lawrence Police spokeswoman.
Murphree said a similar incident was reported nearby with a suspect sharing a similar description.
Both groups of children who were offered the candy ran away, Murphree said.
Joe Hartigan
Nation Thousands return home as California fires abate
BIG BEAR, Calif. — Exhausted firefighters were sent home yesterday as remaining crews doused hotspots and watched for new ones — the vast wildfires that ravaged parts of Southern California all but surrounded.
More than 27,000 people remained displaced from their homes,but that was well down from the 80,000 at the peak of the fires,said a spokesman for the state Office of Emergency Services.
All fires were expected to be surrounded by today, if not by yesterday evening, said Andrea Tuttle, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
World Security forces dispute unresolved with Arafat
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Talks between the Palestinian prime minister and Yasser Arafat
In violence yesterday, a 16-year-old Palestinian blew himself up near Israeli soldiers searching for him in the West Bank village of Azzoun, near Israel. The suicide bomber, Sabih Abu Saud from the city of Nablus, killed himself and slightly injured a soldier.
failed yesterday to resolve a dispute over control of security forces, the last hurdle to forming a government that could restart peace talks. But with a deadline approaching, pressure mounted on Arafat to give in to Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
U.N. nuclear chief calls for control of ingredients
NEW YORK - The U.N. nuclear chief called yesterday for the United Nations to consider putting all production of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium around the world under international control to limit "the increasing threat" posed by countries and terrorists.
Mohamed EIBaradei cited the "serious and immediate challenge" posed by North Korea's withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the urgent need to determine the full extent of Iran's nuclear program, lingering questions about Iraq's nuclear efforts and illegal trafficking in radioactive material.
In his annual report to the 191-nation General Assembly, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said recent events have put the existing international regime to control the spread of nuclear weapons "under growing stress."
Mental issues a factor in wreck
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss.—A woman whose car rammed into the side of an arena where President Bush had just delivered a speech was appointed an attorney Monday and ordered to undergo mental evaluation.
Betina Mixon, 29, faces two state charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, according to Chief Deputy David Mitchell of the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department.
Federal officials said Mixon had no intention of harming the president and no federal charges were pending. No date was set for her arraignment on state charges, which were brought Sunday. She faces up to 25 years in prison on each charge if convicted.
She returned to the DeSoto County Jail following a brief court hearing Monday at which an attorney was named to represent
her. Mixon has been held without bond since Saturday's incident.
A mental evaluation of Mixon was ordered by prosecutor John Champion. "There will be some mental issues." he said.
Mixon, of Horn Lake, had three children in her car when she crashed. The children are staying with relatives, a friend of Mixon said.
Bush had just spoken at a campaign rally for Haley Barbour, the Republican nominee for governor, and was in his limousine preparing to leave the DeSoto County Civic Center when the crash occurred outside, a senior administration official said. The president left the arena less than five minutes later from an exit about 40 yards from the crash site.
Witnesses said they saw a gray Toyota Camry drive through a parking lot, jump the curb, drive through a gate where press buses
had just left and ram the building near a loading dock.
Her car was pursued by a four-wheeled motorcycle and other law enforcement for several hundred feet, according to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the incident.
Police rushed the car, dragged out the driver, handcuffed her and whisked her away.
A friend of Mixon said she may have wanted to hurt herself. Alicia Graves, 19, who said she had known Mixon for about 10 years, said her friend had gone through a lot the last few months.
"With marriage, her dad just dying and her brother sick and all that, I think she had a nervous breakdown," Graves said Sunday. Mixon, a nurse's aide and the mother of three sons, also had a hysterectomy and "was having a lot of stomach problems," Graves said.
The Associated Press
Solar eruptions flare up in sky
BOULDER, Colo. — The Sun fired at least three more salvos of highly charged particles toward Earth Sunday and yesterday, and scientists said more explosions from the Sun's surface were likely.
The latest solar eruptions brought to six the number of huge flares noted since last Wednesday, one of the most turbulent periods in solar observations since 1940.
The sunspots that have been
generating the flares probably will rotate out of view in the next day or so, according to scientists. That would offer Earth a respite from the eruptions and the geomagnetic storms they trigger in the atmosphere, according to the Space Environment Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sunspots are dark, cooler regions of the solar surface filled with fierce magnetic energy that can blow like a cosmic volcano.
The outbursts pose no direct
danger to people, but satellite operators have taken preventive measures to limit damage from the incoming particles.
No problems have been reported in the United States. Last week two Japanese satellites were damaged and Sweden experienced a blackout, while airline communications on northern routes were disrupted.
The speedy particles colliding with the upper atmosphere could generate colorful aurora displays in the night sky as far south as Colorado.
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