NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children and adolescents with asthma can have fun learning about the condition and how to control it by playing a new CD-ROM game.

The game, titled "Quest for the Code," was developed by STARBRIGHT, a nonprofit foundation "dedicated to the development of projects that empower seriously ill children to combat the medical and emotional challenges they face on a daily basis," according to the foundation's Web site. Steven Spielberg and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf chair the foundation.

The video arcade-style game is filled with colorful graphics, three-dimensional images including a 3-D tour of the lungs, and interactive activities, such as using the computer mouse to "mop up" lung inflammation. The game lets children visualize the causes and triggers of their illness and learn what they can do to avoid or minimize asthma flare-ups.

The game gives children "the confidence and encouragement to manage their disease and a sense of responsibility and ownership," Dr. Gary Rachelefsky, director of the Allergy Research Foundation, told Reuters Health. Rachelefsky, of the University of California, Los Angeles, served as the senior medical advisor during the game's 2-year development.

The main character in the game, Cyrus the Commander, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., serves as the game player's guide and ally in the fight against the evil Mucus Airgon. Voiced by Kelsey Grammer, this arch-villain aims to make children believe they cannot manage their asthma.

"Ultimately it is your knowledge and understanding of asthma that will determine Airgon's fate," Cyrus tells game players.

Other villainous characters include Perfuma, voiced by Gwyneth Paltrow, who helps children understand how asthma and medications affect their lungs; the Mold Mob, voiced by Funkmaster Flex and Whoopi Goldberg, who help children identify asthma myths; and General Robo-Roach, voiced by Schwarzkopf, who challenges players to distinguish between early warning signs of asthma and asthma symptoms.

Players win the game after they have obtained all seven pieces of a code that deactivates Airgon's timed asthma deployer. The deployer contains dangerous amounts of asthma triggers that would otherwise spark a "colossal style" outbreak of asthma symptoms, according to Diane Sawyer, who acts as a newscaster in the game.

To obtain each piece of the code, players must correctly answer questions about asthma, asthma medications and asthma triggers, thereby outsmarting the seven villains. In the process, children strengthen their knowledge about asthma and their ability to talk to others about the condition.

"Not only can kids communicate with their friends, but also with their parents and their doctors," Rachelefsky said.

The game can be installed in English or Spanish and includes a tracking report to let school nurses, parents and other adults observe a player's progress.

Previous STARBRIGHT CD-ROM games have dealt with diseases such as cystic fibrosis and diabetes as well as medical procedures including blood tests and IVs. The "Quest for the Code" game is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline.

For more information or to obtain the Quest for the Code Asthma CD-ROM game free of charge for an asthmatic child or teenager, contact STARBRIGHT at 1-800-315-2580 or visit them online at www.starbright.org.

Reference Source 89

For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".