March 2002 Asthma is a reversible obstructive lung disease, caused by increased reaction of the airways to various stimuli. It is a chronic inflammatory condition with acute exacerbations. Asthma can be a life-threatening disease if not properly managed. In 1999 it was estimated that 24.7 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime. Of these, 10.5 million Americans (3.8 million children under 18) had an asthma attack or episode during that same year. A asthma and the school age child asthma specialists recent survey suggested that Maine had the highest percentage of adults with asthma while Louisiana had the lowest. In 1999, there were 4659 deaths attributed to asthma--an age-adjusted rate of 1.7 per 100,000. The hospital discharge rate for asthma decreased 6.5% between 1995 and 1999. However, between 1998 and 1999 the rate increased 13%. In 1999, 478,000 discharges (17.4 per 100,000) were due to asthma. Close to 2 million emergency room visits were attributed to asthma in 1999. Asthma treatments cats asthma specialists accounts for an estimated 3 million lost work days annually for people over 18 years of age; the annual direct health care costs of asthma is approximately $8.1 billion; indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity) add another $4.6 billion, for a total of $12.7 billion dollars. Only about a quarter of the children with asthma become symptom-free when their airways reach adult size. The condition persists beyond childhood in 85 percent of women and in 72 percent of men. asthma specialists asthma specialists 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 medications help reduce underlying inflammation in the airways and relieve or prevent symptomatic airway narrowing. Control of inflammation atopic ecema and asthma medications asthma specialists should lead to
