Hello Zhen,

October is a time of change, as the summer gives way to fall, the weather gets cooler, and we celebrate Thanksgiving. Our team at Asthma Canada is thankful to work on behalf of the asthma community and for the opportunity to advance asthma education, advocacy and research. We’re also thankful for our volunteers, our generous donors, partners, and those who give of their time and expertise such as the members of our Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee. As CEO of Asthma Canada, I am thankful for and consider myself privileged to work with a devoted and skilled Board of Directors and a staff team that is second to none when it comes to working on behalf of our community.

This month, we are focusing on helping people cope with the challenges that people living with asthma and respiratory allergies face this time of year. Children are settled back in school, but allergies and asthma peak and respiratory viruses come back with a vengeance. Poor air quality continues to be an issue for our community and this year’s unprecedented wildfires resulted in a challenging summer for many, the effects of which are still being felt.

Our friends at the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) reached out to us to help them develop resources that can help their members understand asthma and how they as educators can best support students, parents, and their own families as we move through the early part of the school year. We’ve shared some of these resources below for everyone to benefit from, and we are thankful to OTIP for giving us a platform to reach their members who are responsible for children’s health and well being in schools every day.

We are also pleased to share a recording of the webinar we held in September on AERD (Aspirin Exacerbated Respiratory Disease), which affects many people with asthma and can result in a loss of smell and/or nasal polyps. 

We also invite you to join with us following the journey of “The Asthma Runner” Josh Rheaume, who is running his first marathon this month and sharing his story on social media to raise awareness for the disease and Asthma Canada. 

Check out the articles and information below for more on these topics and others such as our exciting partnership with Fellowes Canada which involves a time-limited offer of free air purifiers to the asthma community. There are no strings attached! If you would like to take advantage of Fellowes’ incredible generosity, scroll down to see how you can enter to receive one of these units. We’ve heard from many who have received one already about how much of a difference the unit is making for them in improving indoor air quality. 

I’ll close my remarks with another note of thanks – a special thank you to our donors. Without your support, Asthma Canada would not be able to do the work we do on behalf of the more than 4 million Canadians living with asthma.

Happy Thanksgiving and best regards,

Jeffrey Beach

President & CEO, Asthma Canada

And the Asthma Canada Team

Our partnership with Fellowes Canada is still ongoing!

Fellowes Canada has chosen to donate ~500 air purifiers to individuals and organizations within the Asthma Canada network, prioritizing lower-income households, families & educational institutions, and older adults living with asthma.

Their unwavering commitment to improving air quality and mitigating respiratory issues during asthma peaks and ongoing wildfire threats underscores their dedication to making a positive impact in the lives of Canadians. By providing these air purifiers, Fellowes Canada aims to help those who need it most breathe easier and stay healthy.

Clean air is a vital part of good health, and these air purifiers will help individuals and organizations reduce health risks that come with poor indoor air quality. We're dedicated to making clean air accessible to all Canadians.

This partnership helps further our goal of improving community well-being, and we are grateful to have Fellowes help us deliver on these commitments!

Health systems across Canada continue to be under immense strain, experiencing staff shortages, surgical and diagnostic backlogs, mental health and addiction issues, among other challenges. Respiratory care is further impacted by these broader health system challenges.

Patients with chronic respiratory conditions continue to be frequent health system users, with approximately 80,266 emergency department visits for asthma reported in 2021. There is an opportunity here for health system and community leaders to join forces and collaborate on solutions to address these challenges in asthma care for the benefit of patients, care providers and the health system as a whole.

Asthma Canada is leading an upcoming panel discussion with Longwoods as part of their “Leadership Series” on Thursday, October 5 at 1 p.m. EST.

Tune in to be part of the discussion and weigh in with your perspective on the study and its findings.

The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Next Week

Meet Josh Rheaume – @the.asthma.runner on Instagram. Josh's journey with asthma has been marked by incredible determination and resilience. He has faced the challenges of managing asthma while pursuing his passion for running, and he's turned his journey into a powerful source of inspiration for many. Check out some of his tips and advice!  

This year, Josh has teamed up with Asthma Canada to make a big difference. He'll be running in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on behalf of our organization, with the goal of raising funds and awareness for asthma research, education, and advocacy. We couldn't be more thrilled to have him on board!

In the News

September 26th was AERD awareness day, so we took the time to host a webinar to shed some light on this often under-diagnosed disease.

AERD is also known as Samter's Triad due to it being the combination of asthma, nasal polyps and aspirin sensitivity that causes respiratory reactions. As you can imagine, balancing all of those conditions at once is extremely challenging.

We brought in guest speaker Dr. Juan Ruiz to run us a through a very detailed explanation of AERD is, what patients need to know about it and how they can better manage it.

Asthma Canada partnered with the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) to create videos on asthma awareness, especially in schools. CEO Jeff Beach covers what parents and teachers should know about asthma for the early part of the school year.

Dr. Zihang Lu aims to develop a method for earlier diagnosis of asthma in children, making use of data from the CHILD Cohort Study and CANUE consortium, his goal is to identify asthma pathways and the phenotypes of asthma that they lead into. In order to aid this research, he has been awarded the Early Career Researcher Award.

“I hope, and I really do believe, that I can use my expertise to make a contribution that will improve patients’ lives," comments Dr. Lu. "I’m also hoping to make a positive impact on improving patient care, advancing public health, and transforming the lives of those who are affected by diseases.”

Asthma Canada is proud to support groundbreaking research through the Early Career Investigator Awards. We congratulate Dr. Lu and all of the 2023 award recipients and look forward to their continued success and impact for the benefit of Canadians living with asthma.

Asthma Canada is currently recruiting qualified and passionate candidates to join our volunteer Board of Directors. This is an opportunity to contribute your skills and make a difference for the more than 4 million Canadians who live with asthma. Please see the posting below for more details and share with anyone you think might be interested.

Learn the specifics of managing Severe Asthma.

Six guiding principles set out to define what should expected in the management and care of Severe Asthma symptoms and those that must deal with them. Researched and in-line with best standards and practices of Severe Asthma services.