A simple walk to class can be exhausting for Morganlee Cheatham.

The junior from Boston, Ky. has asthma and it affects several aspects of her life, especially when she treks up the Hill to class.

“It’s kind of embarrassing when you’re huffing and puffing,” she said.

But Cheatham isn’t alone. Allen Redden, Health Services medical director, estimates that about one in 10 students have the chronic disease.

Asthma inflames a person’s airwaves, making them swollen and sensitive, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s Web site.

Weather changes, allergies, physical activities and irritants can induce asthma. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, tightening of the chest, shortening of the breath and faster or noisier breathing.

The current weather changes have made Cheatham’s asthma worse.

“When it’s hot and then cold and then hot and then cold, it just kills me,” she said.

Although she enjoys walking to class, she rides the shuttle to class to avoid bothering others with her coughing and wheezing.

Yet her symptoms don’t just happen walking to class.

“I have a cough 24-7,” she said in regard to the weather patterns.

The chronic illness also gives her sleeping troubles. Her lungs get tight and she coughs as she tries to get some rest.

The cold weather is better for Cheatham’s asthma, so she’s looking forward to the colder seasons, she said.

Health Services gets a lot of students stopping in the office with asthma flare-ups when the seasons change, Redden said.

Patricia Blewett, Health Services staff physician, said August is a bad month for asthmatics because there’s a lot of ragweed, which makes seasonal allergies flare up.

Cheatham said that distinct weather changes make her asthma flare up. Mold also induces her asthma. Her asthma also aggravates any illnesses she gets.

“When I get sick, I don’t get sick like everyone else,” she said.

She takes Singulair, a once-a-day pill, to control her symptoms, and uses an inhaler when needed. She said if she works out regularly, her asthma is better.

Adam Swanson, a sophomore from Rosemont, Minn., also has asthma. Physical activity also helps his asthma, and he tries to exercise about once every other day.

Consistent physical activity helps prevent the more severe symptoms of asthma.

He said his asthma hardly affects him.

“I mean, it’s kind of to the point where I don’t even notice,” he said.

Blewett said that asthma shouldn’t affect any of the daily activities of an asthmatic if it is controlled properly. Using an inhaler more than a few times a week poses a problem.

“There’s a guideline that says if you’re using your inhaler more than once a week for wheezing, you should see your doctor,” Blewett said.

Patients should look into other medicine forms if they use their inhaler more than periodically, she said. She also advises against over-the-counter inhalers. Asthmatics should also get a flu shot because sickness can worsen the chronic illness.

Reach Nina Bosken at diversions@chherald.com.