College location and asthma

Parents Forum
1

<p>My son has had some major health issues involving asthma. He does not suffer from the asthma on a daily basis but if he gets a cold or any sickness it goes directly to his lungs. Unfortunately, this becomes a constant event from Nov-March. He is rarely sick in the late spring/summer. He has no issue with humidity. My thought is that if he went to school in a warmer location then he might avoid the constant sickness.</p>

<p>Has anyone had a positive experience when their child moved to a warmer climate?</p>

2

<p>College dorms are horrible for colds. I often have some degree of a cold, off and on, from late fall through spring. My friends have similar problems. I suggest your son talk to his doctor about ways to stay healthy while at college. Should he get a humidifier? Try for a single? Etc. It may make sense to look at warmer climates, but I think colleges in general tend to have a lot of sickness.</p>

<p>I'm sure other posters will be able to give you good advice about how climate can effect asthma. Some of the frequent posters on here suffer from asthma, I remember.</p>

3

<p>I definitely had a positive experience with my asthma improving when I went to college, but later figured out that it was mainly due to there being less dust (one of my biggest triggers) in the dorm. I guess moving to a different climate might help, if cold weather is one of his triggers. But in terms of catching or not catching illnesses...who knows. As stated above, college dorms = bad news for staying healthy, no matter what.</p>

4

<p>It's much more important for him to avoid locales with higher concentrations of fine particulates and ozone in the air, because those will aggravate his asthma for sure. In other words, avoid major metropolitan areas. If he has allergic asthma, and his triggers include tree and grass pollens, he may be better off in a desert climate. Some very good medications for moderate to severe chronic asthma have recently come to market -- Symbicort and Serevent come to mind. Although they are very expensive, they allow many patients with severe asthma to lead relatively normal lives.</p>

5

<p>Also, you may want to look for colleges in close proximity to good hospitals. I guess the problem with this is that the places that are best at treating asthma are probably the ones in areas with high rates of asthma (and, accordingly, high levels of air pollution and unfriendly climates).</p>

<p>But I had a sibling get very sick while in college (not with asthma) and it would have been a lot more helpful if he'd gone to school near a place that could actually have diagnosed and treated him.</p>

6

<p>Son has major allergies (allergic to everything environmental plus all pets,etc...) He is also asthmatic. The asthma is brought on by allergy symptoms (which are severe on their own) and any illness, especially URI's.
We live in the northeast. 4 seasons for us bringing with it exposure to whatever is blooming. He does best in the summer, and can be pretty bad the rest of the year.
My son will be starting his sophomore year in August in Florida (U Miami). Things are always in bloom there, no change of season. Lush plantings. He states that he has had no asthma or allergy symptoms (OK, maybe he used the inhaler a few times as needed but nothing major at all.) The south was perfect for him (and I was very concerned about sending him away with the asthma. It can be frightening.) He is amazed that he has not had allergy symptoms for the first time in years and years.
I was definitely concerned about sending him to a school in a cold climate, as I worried that IF he were sick/ allergy ridden/asthmatic, he'd have to be out in the cold at that time walking to class.
So Florida has worked for us, at least southern FLA. Maybe you can pick a school in other southern states to see if you can expect the same.
(By the way, I posted a link on the Miami thread with merit scholarship info if you want to check it out. They are good with merit aid, based on GPA and SAT/ACT.)
Make sure to send all meds and nebulizer with him just in case!
Good luck.</p>

7

<p>When I lived in Atlanta(warm most of the year but January), there was alot of pollen in the spring. All the trees dropped green stuff over everything. If allergy to this is a problem, as it is for some, keep this in mind.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for everyone's insight. It really seems to be the cold/flu season that hits in the fall/winter. I don't think allergies are a significant problem although he is on Singulair. </p>

<p>He is going ionto his junior year so we are starting to look for schools. I am scared to death to have him far away yet a change of climate may stop him from having the issues. </p>

<p>This is a foolish question, but is there a cold/flu sevson in the south like there is in the northevst??</p>

9

<p>One of our kids had a terrible time in an urban area. Supposedly he is allergic to trees. We live in the woods where he had no trouble, and now he lives in the south where the trees surround his house...and his allergy symptoms are greatly reduced. Go figure. We think the air quality in the city might have been the bigger issue than the trees.</p>

10

<p>warriorboy - my D2 has asthma, typically it manifests itself as exercise induced, but she also has some rather severe allergies which can go south pretty quick (cats, molds, penicillins, sulfas, etc.). We've had several trips to acute care centers and ERs. We live in the Midwest, and she attends school on the East Coast, so not much change in winter weather. However, she did fine this year at school; she is on Asmanex daily, and when she's on it, she has no asthma flare-ups due to exercise. She's had an occasional one due to allergies. </p>

<p>For some reason she had a relatively healthy year at school, just a couple of colds (or crud as they all called it), but she got over them with no trips to even the student health center. </p>

<p>Perhaps you would feel better if your son's doctor prescribed a nebulizer for him to take to school with him. We never got to that point, because the asmanex got everything under control, but I wouldn't have hesitated a bit to ask for one had she been having regular flare-ups.</p>

<p>And yes, I absolutely hated the idea of her being so far away from home (over 700 miles) with her history of this illness. But now that we've gotten through one year, it will be easier next year. </p>

<p>When she was in high school and doing show choir, she spent many, many hours a week in a small choir room rehearsing with 50+ other students. If you passed by the room, you couldn't go 30 seconds without hearing someone cough; there was always something going around, germ wise. But it seems as if at school, although she's in a dorm-living situation, she has gotten less sick. There's just not the density of people around her like there was in the choir room in high school. </p>

<p>Students get sick; they don't get enough sleep, they don't eat properly and they are stressed. This happens whether the school is in the south or north. Those communal bathrooms are like big petri dishes, and the students pick stuff up from each other. I don't know that I would limit a college search to particular climates with the expectation that your child would be less likely to get sick.</p>

11

<p>I know of students with asthma who have done well at Pepperdine in Malibu, California. Being on the coast, the air is always humid and the weather is mild all year. The nice weather allows students to spend more time outside, which may help to cut down on the transmission of colds and flu. Because the prevailing winds are from the ocean, there is no smog. I would think that other coastal schools might have similar traits.</p>

12

<p>I have allergy triggered asthma and the dryness and dustiness of the desert drives me nutz. Intense urban environments with trucks etc does as well. My recommendation is an suburban/rural environment with lots of light and air... as long as the rural is not surrounded by fileds and crop dusters are used!</p>

13

<p>I have horrible asthma and my college years were a nightmare. The biggest factor was the dryness of the air -- overheated. Avoid the ground floor near the furnace. That's what really did it for me.</p>

<p>Walking in the cold in winter was also an issue, so a warmer climate might be helpful.</p>

14

<p>my son has severe pollen and pet and grass and tree allergies and has been on three shots a week all his life. He got "tested" by a Duke allergist when he went to Duke and his serums were changed to alter his resistance to the trees and foilage there. Shots actually really help him a great deal. He does get asthma now and then. Shots were a bummer re time usage at college..the local nurse in the freshman area "couldn't give them" so he had to go to a farther away clinic with a doc and wait with apts...but the serum helped his resistance a lot. He also was allowed a window unit the year there was no AC in his dorm. Also...sleep hygiene is crucial for control of allergies/asthma..and keeping up your general resistance...very hard to stay on track in sleep in colllege. He learned this the hard way after getting mono and not sleeping well before or after that...is very much on a sleep routine now.
Honestly, if the asthma your son lives with is chronic..I would make sure he applied to schools in a good climate with a good clinic on campus and a specialist available in town...for his worst episodes. College is tough. Would also suggest he choose schools where he thinks he has a prayer of getting some sleep on a routine basis. I have to say our son's roommates were very accomodating/polite/ and it is just that our son has a hard time sleeping with the noise and socializing temptations on the hall.</p>

15

<p>Remind your son, wherever he goes to school, to get his flu shot. Son got his at the university's health center (free). I would think/hope that all schools make them available to the students.</p>

16

<p>My D had asthma in Seattle. We have many male deciduous trees- pollen all over the place.
She doesn't have asthma apparently in Portland- perhaps more female trees to take up the pollen?</p>

<p>That was the reason why she didn't consider schools in LA- however.</p>

<p>I find that cold temperatures negatively affect my asthma the most, very frustrating, I love winter outdoor activities.</p>

17

<p>I heard asthma seems to get better with a change of location and triggers but from what I understand with time the triggers change to the environment you are in ... so maybe the coming and going of the college experience is not long enough to cause a transition over.</p>

<p>I live in Northern CA and I find the cold weather can be an issue but the trigger is more about being indoors more often and the cleanliness of the heating duct system etc etc.</p>

<p>Everyone is different so i recommend taking careful note. I must say though that being near an ocean is always the best for me!</p>