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Facts About Asthma
How Familiar Are You with Asthma?
To
test your basic knowledge of asthma, visit the Mayo
Clinic website.
How Prevalent is Asthma? Take
a look at State Health Data Online, The Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
FACTS ABOUT ASTHMA
- 6.3 million children under 18 years
of age have asthma and 4 million suffered from an asthma
attack or episode in the past year.
- Asthma is the leading serious chronic illness
among children. Most children have mild
to moderate problems, and their illness can be controlled
by treatment at home or in the doctor's office. For
some children the illness becomes a formidable problem
causing numerous visits to the hospital emergency
room and multiple hospitalizations
- Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among
children under the age of 15 and it is the first-ranking
chronic condition.
- There were close to 658,000 pediatric emergency
room visits in 1999 due to asthma. The estimated
annual rate for emergency room visits among children
under age 5 is 137.1 per 10,000--the highest rate
of all age groups.
- Asthma accounts for 14 million lost school
days annually. It is the leading cause of
school absenteeism attributed to chronic conditions.
- The estimated annual cost of treating
asthma in those under 18 years of age is $3.2 billion.
- Asthma breathing problems usually happen
in "episodes," but the inflammation
underlying asthma is continuous. An asthma episode
is a series of events that result in narrowed airways.
These include: swelling of the lining, tightening
of the muscle, and increased secretion of mucus in
the airway. The narrowed airway is responsible for
the difficulty in breathing with the familiar "wheeze."
- Asthma can be controlled and hospitalization
avoided if you have the information you
need and a plan. For more information, see Living
with Asthma
Resources: General Information On Asthma
Resources: To find articles on asthma (type
in “asthma” in search box):
- Annual Reviews: Researchers and editors affiliated
with Annual Reviews, a nonprofit organization, synthesize
and filter critical reviews by leading scientists in
29 focused disciplines within Biological, Medical,
Physical and Social Sciences. Public Health is among
the disciplines reviewed. Annual Reviews' search feature
and abstracts can be used online by non-subscribers,
while the entire article can be only accessed by subscription.
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Adolescent
& Child Targets for Health Foundation, Inc. 
