  Advances in mobile computing have paved the way for the development of
several health applications using smartphone as a platform for data
acquisition, analysis and presentation. Such areas where mhealth systems have
been extensively deployed include monitoring of long term health conditions
like Cardio Vascular Diseases and pulmonary disorders, as well as detection of
changes from baseline measurements of such conditions. Asthma is one of the
respiratory conditions with growing concern across the globe due to the
economic, social and emotional burden associated with the ailment. The
management and control of asthma can be improved by consistent monitoring of
the condition in realtime since attack could occur anytime and anywhere. This
paper proposes the use of smartphone equipped with embedded sensors, to capture
and analyze early symptoms of asthma triggered by exercise. The system design
is based on Decision Support System techniques for measuring and analyzing the
level and type of patients physical activity as well as weather conditions that
predispose asthma attack. Preliminary results show that smartphones can be used
to monitor and detect asthma symptoms without other networked devices. This
would enhance the usability of the health system while ensuring users data
privacy, and reducing the overall cost of system deployment. Further, the
proposed system can serve as a handy tool for a quick medical response for
asthmatics in low income countries where there are limited access to
specialized medical devices and shortages of health professionals. Development
of such monitoring systems signals a positive response to lessen the global
burden of asthma.
