More than 40 years ago, Marjorie Foo's son Chris was on death's door.

The two-year-old was suffering severe asthma and the incident saw the Foo family start to take the disease seriously.

"It made me more vigilant about anything going wrong again," Mrs Foo said.

She was speaking to The Courier as part of National Asthma Week to encourage people to use the Asthma Foundation of Victoria's latest tool to manage the disease.

In Ballarat, about 10,000 people have asthma and, every year, 10 people per month die across Victoria due to the disease.

it is the major reason why children attend emergency hospital wards and is a major cause of workplace absenteeism.

The foundation has developed an online monitoring system to allow registered people with asthma to receive warnings on days when environmental factors may trigger asthma.

Mrs Foo said her family members felt the website was helpful for managing the disease and they had embraced the new service.

The new system allows someone with asthma to chart their conditions and receive an SMS reminder to see a doctor if their condition is worsening.

For more information, visit the website www.asthma.org.au

Sighted Ballarat Courier, 4 September 2010

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