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Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung disorder that makes breathing difficult and sometimes impossible. There has been a dramatic increase in asthma over the past twenty years, with numbers rising at especially alarming rates for children under the age of five and in minority communities. Despite the fact that many cases go unrecorded, asthma is documented as the leading cause of serious chronic illness among children nation-wide.

Children are especially vulnerable to respiratory hazards that may cause asthma because of their small size, their rapid developmental and metabolic rates, and their behavior. Children are also more vulnerable because their airways are small, they breathe more rapidly and inhale more pollutants per pound of body weight than adults, and they often spend a lot of time doing vigorous activities.

Asthma most often begins in childhood with symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and overproduction of mucus. When symptoms are mild to moderate, asthma can lead to limited physical activity, interrupted sleep, disrupted family and caregiver routines, and the need for careful medical management. When severe, asthma can be life threatening. Drug and inhaler therapies to help relieve asthma require daily dosage and regular monitoring.

The most common allergens known to trigger asthma symptoms are pollen, mold, animal saliva and dander, urine, dust mites, cockroach particles, cigarette smoke, medications, and food and/or food additives. Other triggers that cause or worsen asthma symptoms include infections, pesticides, dust, smoke, weather changes, exercise, air pollution (both indoors and outdoors), heartburn, and emotional upset. Frequent attacks of asthma can also be an indication of poor medical and pharmacological management.

Environmental Triggers

Many experts point to particular environmental triggers to explain the rising incidence and prevalence of asthma. In some cases, childhood exposure to asthma triggers can affect an individual’s health later on in life.

• Indoor air pollution is found in houses that contain toxic materials and chemicals (e.g. pesticides and some cleaning agents), dust, pests (specifically cockroaches and dustmites whose droppings can be inhaled into the lungs and cause respiratory problems), and poor ventilation.

• Outdoor air pollution comes from increased ozone, smog, and particulate matter. Increased ozone has been associated with increased asthma rates in children, reduction in lung function, increased exercise-related wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness. Ozone is particularly a problem for children living in areas with high traffic, such as cities, where air pollution and smog are common. Studies have shown that as particulate levels increase, which can happen when temperature and humidity levels rise, respiratory disease related emergency room visits and hospital admissions increase. In addition, children living in rural areas where incomes are low and exposure to environmental triggers (e.g., air pollution, pesticides) is high, there is an increased rate of asthma.

Asthma is a potential danger to the health of all children and adolescents, but the rates of illness, hospitalization, and death are disproportionately high for minorities, including Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. This makes asthma not only a serious health issue, but also an issue of social justice.
What You Can Do

Although it is a disease that effects millions, the cure for asthma remains unknown. Because of this, the most effective tool for asthma management is education about asthma prevention and treatment. Educate yourself about asthma by exploring asthma information resource websites and become active with organizations that work to reduce pollution in our communities.

Asthma Information Resources

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthma.html MEDLINEplus Health Information website, a service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, and www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthmainchildren.html, with child-specific asthma info

www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/asthma/default.htm website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health, with extensive asthma information

www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm, the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, where you can go to search for asthma information

http://web.health.gov/healthypeople, site of Healthy People 2010 Objectives, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services project, with the search engine “healthfinder” which provides links to many government and non-profit organizations that focus on various health topics

www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma/index.html, website for the Environmental Protection Agency with information about asthma and the environment and links to a variety of other asthma info

www.aafa.org, website for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which supports asthma education, advocacy, and research through 13 local chapters, the site has extensive info

www.lungusa.org, website for the American Lung Association, with extensive asthma info

www.aap.org/, website for the American Academy of Pediatrics, search for “asthma”

www.freebreather.com, with extensive asthma information and links to other asthma resources

http://pewenvirohealth.jhsph.edu, for The Pew Environmental Health Commission’s report called “Attack Asthma: Why America Needs a Public Health Defense System to Battle Environmental Threats” .To find, click on reports on the left side of screen.

www.healthyschools.org, website of The Healthy Schools Network, a state-based advocate for the protection of children’s environmental health in schools

www.cehn.org, website for the Children’s Environmental Health Network, a non-profit organization to protect children from environmental hazards and to promote a healthy environment, with a useful resource guide that can be searched for asthma information or for other children’s environmental health resources