Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Her Battle Against Asthma “Someday this girl will be the first lady of something.”, predicted Ollie Mae Johnson, the day of her great-granddaughter, Jacqueline’s birth (Harrington 25). She was right. Asthma would soon become present in the high-point of Jackie’s life, but she sure would be known for pushing through it. Asthma is not just a cough but a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways
(Paquette 8). People with severe asthma have to be very careful about everything they do, like avoiding pollen, animals, products, and even some scents. Asthmatics are also limited to a certain amount of exercise (14) and might also stand out because of their coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, tightness of the chest (7), and many flu or cold-like symptoms (17). There is no cure to asthma yet, but there are some devices and aids to help ease asthma attacks. A Peak Flow Meter is the most common device to show the status of a patient’s asthma and what treatment they should use at the time. There are different choices of medicines to choose from for asthma based on age, allergies, and severity. Some examples are MDIs (75), bronchodilators, allergy pills, and most inflammatory drugs. Most doctors will have patients list things that trigger their asthma attacks and make them stay away from them (UXL). Even though doctors prescribe treatment to help get through asthma, a recent study shows that 48 percent of adults are taught how to avoid asthma …show more content…
Louis, Illinois, on March 3, 1962 to Alfred and Mary Joyner. She would be a star athlete but face a challenge; a sometimes genetic disease called asthma (A&E). She was diagnosed with asthma in 1980 but refused to take control of it until her near-fatal asthma attack in 1993. She has had asthma her whole life (Harrington 106) but first noticed some symptoms during her high school years of athleticism