FOLLOWING a bout of pneumonia in 2014, Becky Hollingsworth experienced a persistent cough and shortness of breath. Her doctor diagnosed asthma and prescribed two inhalers plus an oral medication. They eased her cough, but Hollings worth wasn’t convinced that asthma was what she had. Her symptoms weren’t severe enough, she thought. So, months later, when she received an automated phone call inviting her into an asthma study, she leaped at the opportunity.
The study was led by Shawn Aaron, chief of respirology at the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital. His research was inspired by what he was seeing among patients referred to him because their asthma medications weren’t working. Asthma is a common disease of the airways that comes with symptoms, such as wheezing and chest tightness, also seen in other lung conditions. But, when Aaron tested the referred patients, he found many for whom the diagnosis was simply wrong. He’d already done several smaller studies; this new project was ambitious, involving 613 adults in ten locations across the country.
Hollingsworth, a retired nurse, was an eager recruit, willing to undergo repeated tests in Ottawa, an hour-long drive from her home. The first test was spirometry, one she’d not had before.
Wearing nose clips, patients exhale into a tube connected to a spirometer, a device that measures airflow, as fast and hard as they can for five seconds. After three blows, they inhale a bronchodilator — medication that relaxes muscles around the airways — wait fifteen minutes, and do three more blows. If the machine registers improvement in airflow, the diagnosis is asthma.
This story is from the September/October 2021 edition of The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September/October 2021 edition of The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"
Vaclav Smil Is Fed Up
The acclaimed environmental scientist is criticizing climate activists, shunning media, and stepping back just when we need him most
It's Time for a Birth Control Revolution
What the pill teaches us about the failure - and future - of women's health care
Would You Watch a Play about Hydro Electricity?
How documentary theatre struck a chord in Quebec
Still Spinning
One record chain has bet big on a new appetite for physical media
Just So You Know, I Love My Mother
In many ways, multi-generational living makes sense. But that doesn't make it easy
Art of the Steal
Why are plundered African artifacts still in Western museums?
Canada in the Middle
What role can we play in easing the war in Gaza?
Canadian Multiculturalism: A Work in Progress
As we mark fifty years since the adoption of Canada’s federal multiculturalism policy, human rights advocate AMIRA ELGHAWABY celebrates its merits and reflects on the work that is yet to be done when it comes to inclusion, acceptance, and fighting systemic racism in our country.