Asthma is a disease of chronic inflammation of the airways (the tubes bringing air to the lungs). The inflammation makes breathing difficult. How asthma affects a person fluctuates with a person's various environmental and medical conditions. Asthma can be life-threatening. It is not contagious. Symptoms can start at any age.
Twenty percent of the U.S. population has allergies or asthma.
The National Asthma
Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) started in 1989 with the goal of
raising awareness about the seriousness of asthma as a chronic disease, as well
as improving recognition of symptoms of asthma by doctors and the public. The
NAEPP is run by the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute. Statistics about asthma, including those above, can be
obtained from the NAEPP. Between 12 and 15
million people in the U.S. have asthma. One 1998 estimate from the Centers for
Disease Control, was even higher at 17
million. In 1998, asthma cost the U.S. $11.3 billion. For more, please see the Asthma
article of MedicineNet.com.
Asthma is responsible for: