The Best of Breath of Fresh Air: 1995-2000

Preface

In 1995 our asthma center began publication of a quarterly newsletter for patients and their families with asthma and related diseases. At the time of the first issue, in the fall of 1995, we were the Longwood Medical Area Adult Asthma Center. Two years later, shortly after the collaborative merger of Brigham and Women's and Massachusetts General Hospitals into the Partners Health System, we became the Partners Asthma Center. Not long thereafter Faulkner Hospital joined the Partners system, and the Partners Asthma Center. Throughout this period of growth and collaboration, we have continued to publish — in English and in Spanish — our educational asthma newsletter, Breath of Fresh Air.

Partners Asthma Center brings together allergists and pulmonologists, internists and pediatricians, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, and pulmonary function technicians into a collaborative center of excellence for asthma care. We are committed to providing the best possible care for asthma to our patients. Part of that commitment entails providing our patients with up-to-date information about asthma and related conditions. It is our firm belief that, armed with such knowledge, persons with asthma can made good judgments about their self-care. Our premise is that if you learn more about asthma and its causes and treatments, you will breathe freer, feel better, and stay safer from attacks of difficult breathing.

Over the course of five years and 20 issues of Breath of Fresh Air, many different topics have been covered. We began with "What is Asthma?" and other basic concepts. We discussed peak flow meters, spacers, and asthma action plans. We explored the interactions between asthma and sinusitis, asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and asthma and emphysema. We tried to answer common questions that come up in day-to-day conversations with persons with asthma, our "frequently asked questions" section called "Q & A." And we explored the "asthma stories" of several of our patients in the "Spotlight section" of our newsletter.

Not all of our patients at Partners Asthma Center will have received (or read) all of the issues of Breath of Fresh Air. And new patients will not have had the opportunity to see any of this material. For these reasons we have put together in this one volume, The Best of Breath of Fresh Air: The First Five Years (1995-2000), a collection of the best articles from the first 20 issues of our newsletter. The material has been reviewed and updated as needed so that it is accurate as of the current date of publication. We hope that you find it of interest.

To receive a copy of Breath of Fresh Air quarterly — if you do not already do so — send us your name and address at:

Breath of Fresh Air
Partners Asthma Center
Clinics Bldg. CA311
15 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
Fax: (617) 732-7421
e-mail: asthma@partners.org

We look forward to having you as one of our readers during our next five years of publication.

Christopher H. Fanta, M.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Breath of Fresh Air
Date, 2000

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