| About 20 million - or one in four - Americans have | | | | school days lost each year; 24 million days of |
| asthma that causes 5,000 deaths each year. The | | | | restricted activity for both children and adults; and |
| disease strikes nine million children under 18 and is | | | | 12 million bed rest days," said Dr. Robert B. Mellins, |
| responsible for 44 percent of hospitalizations in | | | | professor of pediatrics, in "The Columbia |
| that age group. | | | | University College of Physicians and Surgeons |
| "Every day in America, 40,000 people miss school | | | | Complete Home Medical Guide." |
| or work, 30,000 people have an asthma attack, | | | | "About half of all chronic sickness in childhood is |
| 5, 000 people visit the emergency room, 1,000 | | | | due to asthma, which accounts for more days |
| people are admitted to the hospital and 11 people | | | | lost from school than any other illness. One child in |
| die due to asthma," according to the American | | | | every 40 has the disease, boys more often than |
| Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology | | | | girls. However, asthma can and often does have |
| (AAAAI). | | | | its onset in or persists into adult life. I have |
| Statistics show that the prevalence of asthma | | | | several patients who, without any previous |
| has increased 75 percent from 1980 - 1994. On | | | | history of lung problems, suddenly become |
| the other hand, asthma rates in children under the | | | | asthmatic in their 70s," added Dr. Isadore |
| age of five have increased over 160 percent in | | | | Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital - Cornell |
| the same period. The sad part about all of this is | | | | Medical Center in "Modern Prevention: The New |
| that asthma is preventable and rarely fatal if | | | | Medicine." |
| treated. | | | | What happens during an asthma attack? Simply |
| "In 2004, there were 13.6 million physician office | | | | explained, air passages (bronchi and bronchioles) |
| visits and 1 million outpatient department visits due | | | | become narrow and swell, affecting the way air |
| to asthma. Asthma accounts for one-quarter of | | | | travels to the lungs. This causes the whistling |
| all emergency room visits in the United States | | | | sound and shortness of breath common in |
| each year with 2 million emergency room visits in | | | | asthmatics. Coughing is the result of excessive |
| 2001," the AAAI added. | | | | mucus production which clogs the breathing tubes. |
| Asthma is a disease that affects all ages but it | | | | "When an asthma attack starts, the muscle layer |
| appears to be more common in men than | | | | contracts causing the narrowing of the airways. |
| women and affects more boys than girls in | | | | As a consequence, it is more difficult for air to |
| children. Most children who develop the disease | | | | flow in and out so that breathing becomes harder |
| beÂfore the age of five tend to outgrow the | | | | and more prolonged," said experts of the Asthma |
| problem. Others, however, aren't so lucky. | | | | Foundation of the Philippines. (Next: Types of |
| "Asthma episodes are responsible for eight million | | | | asthma. |