MDAdvice.com - Allergies Informative Material: Asthma and Allergic Diseases: Asthma

Asthma

Epidemiology

Asthma is a serious respiratory disorder that affects an estimated 10 to 15 million people and claims more than 4,000 lives in the United States each year. Despite our increased knowledge about asthma, the epidemiology of this disease in the United States presents a dismal picture. During the last decade, the prevalence of asthma cases, hospitalizations, and deaths has been increasing. For example, in 1987 twice as many children and adults, ages 5 to 34, died from asthma than in 1969.

The statistics are particularly grim in minority populations in the United States. Non-whites are almost three times as likely as whites to die from asthma. A higher percentage of African Americans have asthma than do whites. Minorities living in the inner cities seem to be at particular risk for developing asthma. For example, the rates of asthma among Puerto Rican children living in the New York City area are among the highest in the United States.

Black Men

Black Women

White Women

White Men

Socioeconomics

Of the $6.2 billion spent by Americans in 1990 on asthma-related care, almost $1.6 billion was for hospital care. Another $1 billion was spent on medications to treat and control asthma symptoms. Americans also lose billions of dollars in wages because of asthma-related problems. A recent study found that school absenteeism costs an estimated $1 billion in lost pay for parents who stayed home to care for asthmatic children. Adult asthmatics who stayed home from work because of illness lost wages amounting to $850 million.

Social factors influence the rising incidence of asthma, although the magnitude of these influences has not yet been determined. Certain factors, including poverty, family problems, inadequate treatment, and lack of access to health care, probably increase an asthma patient's risk of having a severe asthma attack or, more tragically, of dying from asthma.

Although good, consistent medical attention can reduce asthma-related hospitalizations, there are 500,000 asthma-related hospital admissions each year in the United States, with a higher percentage of African Americans and Hispanics being hospitalized than whites. In New York City, for example, asthma-related hospitalizations and deaths cluster in poor, predominately minority neighborhoods where there is often a lack of adequate primary health care.

Environmental factors can also adversely affect people with asthma. An example is indoor tobacco smoke, a well-known respiratory irritant that can cause serious problems for asthma patients. Asthmatic children with parents who smoke are at particular risk of suffering from the effects of inhaling second-hand tobacco smoke. The percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes has been steadily decreasing, but smoking continues to remain highest among individuals who often have the least access to good health care.