 Asthma in Children
Asthma accounts for more hospitalizations in children than any other chronic disease. Children younger than the age of 18 years account for 47.8% of the emergency department visits and 34.6% of the hospitalisations are due to asthma exacerbations. Asthma causes more children to be absent from school than any other chronic illness.
Asthma in Young Children is under Diagnosed and under Treated
A study by the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children appearing in the October 2008 issue of Clinical Pediatrics, found that the diagnosis of asthma in a young child is challenging to pediatricians who may link it to a passing cold or other non-serious condition rather than relating it to asthma and treating it effectively
Higher income families more likely to have Asthmatic Children
An Israeli study from Tel Aviv University in 2007 found that children from upper-income families are more likely to suffer from asthma. The largest gap was shown in metropolitan areas, where 14 per cent from the upper-income groups suffered from the disease, as opposed to 3 per cent from lower-income families.
Children treated for HIV increases risk of Asthma
Medication recommended and often used to treat HIV in children may also increase their risk of developing asthma, according to research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology July issue 2008. A study of HIV-positive children found that those treated with immune-boosting highly active antiretroviral therapy were three times as likely to develop asthma as other children.
Occupational Asthma increasing
New cases of asthma caused by work are increasing according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare at the rate of around 3,000 every year in Australia, which adds up to 15 per cent of adult asthma cases are caused their job.
Athletes need to control Asthma
About 20% of athletes who practice summer sports also suffer from asthma and the highest rates of the respiratory disease can be found among endurance athletes such as runners, swimmers and cyclists. According to the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, more than a third of college athletes assessed for breathing problems had test results suggesting exercise-induced asthma, even in those athletes who had no previous history of asthma.
Obesity Worsens Asthma
Obese people with asthma are nearly five times more likely to be hospitalised for the problem and nearly three times as likely to have worse control of the disease as those with asthma and normal weight.
Cost of Asthma a significant burden
One of the top ten GP consultations in Australia is Asthma. Asthma costs the United States an estimated total of $16.1 billion annually. Worldwide asthma is a serious drain on heath resources, accounting for around 1% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost, which is similar to that for diabetes.
Asthmatics continue to die from attacks
Globally, up to 150 million people suffer from asthma. In the United States, 4,261 people died from asthma in 2002. Deaths from asthma have reached more than 180,000 annually worldwide.
City pollution worsens Asthma
High pollution levels triggered asthma in people where the condition previously had been latent. A 2007 study in India found that almost 12,000 city schoolchildren, 17 per cent reported coughing, wheezing or breathlessness, compared to less than half that number in rural areas.
Warnings for Asthmatics to avoid smog
When smog, pollution or smoke pushes the regional pollution index (RPI) reaches above 50 a couple of times per year in large cities such as Sydney and even Perth, Asthmatics are advised to definitely avoid outdoor exercise and to carefully monitor their symptoms.
Asthma Increasing In Africa
According to the Global Burden of Asthma Report 2008, the prevalence of asthma throughout Africa has increased markedly in recent years, having previously been uncommon over most parts of the continent. It is anticipated that, with continued urbanization and increasing Westernization of lifestyles, the burden of asthma in Africa will continue to increase considerably in the coming decade. The prevalence of the disease is greatest, about 8% of the population, in Southern Africa.
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