Asthma problems continue to rise in American. So says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a report issued earlier this week. Asthma education and action plans are “key” to helping stem the increase in asthma problems for both adults and children.

This is National Asthma Awareness Month. It’s a little disheartening to know that despite better treatment options, asthma continues to rise as a major cause of illness, hospitalizations, missed work or school days, and early death. Check these staggering numbers from the past decade:

• The number of Americans with asthma increased by 15%
• 29 million adults and 10 million children in the U.S. (about 13%!) have been diagnosed with asthma at some time
• 1 of 11 children and 1 of 12 adults in the U.S currently have asthma
• Visits to doctors offices for asthma reached 8.9 million
• Emergency room visits for asthma hit 1.9 million
• Around 3,400 deaths resulted from severe asthma attacks

Not only does it cost us lives and health, it hits our wallets hard, too. Here are a few more staggering stats from the financial and work/school side of asthma’s impact:

• Early death from asthma cost $2.1 billion
• Missed school or work days from asthma cost $3.8 billion
• Medical expenses for asthma care hit $50.1 billion
• Total asthma costs for the U.S. reached $56 billion!
  *2007 figures

Asthma hurts… all of us: ourselves, our loved ones, and our nation’s economy.

Asthma education really helps. Read more about asthma, and the findings mentioned above, on HealthDay: News for Healthier Living, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asthma pages, and the National, Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) web site. Especially good is the CDC’s Asthma’s Impact on the Nation.

If you have asthma, make sure you keep up to date with your doctor. If you know someone who has asthma, encourage them to stay current with their care plans. Regular asthma check-ups, improved asthma education, greater asthma awareness, along with good asthma action plans are a must to save lives, save health, and save our healthcare pocketbooks.
 

Dr. Gregg
Posted – May 18, 2012