May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month!
Here are some quick facts about Asthma !
- Asthma is a chronic disease that affects airways in lungs. During asthma attacks, patients can experience wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or tightness and pain in the chest.[1]
- Asthmatic attacks can be triggered by allergens, exercise, smoke, pollution, or airway infections.[2]
- Smoking is known to trigger asthmatic attacks. Make handmade cards to encourage your loved ones to quit smoking. Sign up for Quitters Always Win.[3]
- As of 2012, more than 18 million adults and 6 million children suffered from asthma.[4]
- In the last decade, the number of people with asthma increased by 15%.[5]
- Asthma costs the country more than $50 billion every year in health care costs.[6]
- In children, boys are more likely to develop asthma than girls, but in adults, women are more likely than men.[7]
- Hispanics may have an elevated risk for exposure to air pollution since a disproportionate number (80%) live in areas that fail to meet one or more national standards for air pollution.[8]
- Asthma is the cause for children missing more than 10 million school days a year.[9]
- College-age adults (ages 18 to 24) are more likely to develop asthma than older adults.[10]
- African-Americans are 2 to 3 times more likely than any other racial group to die from asthma, but roughly 25% of black adults with asthma cannot afford regular doctor’s visits.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Medical Department.