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11 Facts About Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects airways in lungs. During asthma attacks, patients can experience wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or tightness and pain in the chest.
Asthmatic attacks can be triggered by allergens, exercise, smoke, pollution, or airway infections.
In 2010, more than 18 million adults and 7 million children suffered from asthma.
In the last decade, the number of people with asthma increased by 15 percent.
Asthma costs the country more than $50 billion every year in healthcare costs.
In children, boys are more likely to develop asthma than girls, but in adults, women are more likely than men.
Hispanics may have an elevated risk for exposure to air pollution since a disproportionate number (80 percent) live in areas that fail to meet one or more national standards for air pollution.
Asthma is the number one reason for children missing school, accounting for more than 10 million missed school days a year.
College-age adults (ages 18 to 24) are more likely to develop asthma than older adults.
Less than 17 percent of people without asthma smoke, while more than 20 percent of people with asthma smoke. Smoking is known to trigger asthmatic attacks.
Blacks are 2 to 3 times more likely than any other racial group to die from asthma, but roughly 25 percent of black adults with asthma cannot afford regular doctor’s visits.