March 2nd, 2010
Asthma rates have been slowly increasing throughout the U.S. but in some states, the respiratory disease rates are recorded as being significantly lower, a new government study is showing.
Currently, an estimated 7.85% of the American population has been diagnosed with asthma, with a rate increase of around 0.5% every three years. However, the study also illustrated that some states have considerably lower rates of asthma. For instance, 11% of people from Rhode Island had asthma, while only 5% of people from Louisiana were living with the illness.
Asthma is a common medical problem, explains study author Dr. Teresa Ann Morrison, a medical officer in the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch of the National Center for Environmental Health, in Atlanta. “Our findings indicated wide differences in geographic prevalence among adults across the state level and an overall increased prevalence,” she said.
“These findings are a call to
engage further studies because
these differences may help us
understand the causes of
asthma, help manage the
disease and design state-
specific interventions.”
Statistic and data was collected on asthmatic adults from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2000 to 2008 for the government study. In order to determine the prevalence of asthma over three years, Morrison and colleagues separated the data into three year periods (2000-2002, 2003-2005 and 2006 to 2008).
Asthma rates differed from state to state, with Louisiana reporting the lowest rate at 5.04% and Rhode Island having the highest rate at 10.68%. The states with highest increases were Oklahoma with a 2.03% increase and Alabama with a 1.91% increase.
Morrison explained the variations by stating that, “asthma is very multi-factorial, and these differences can be due to a lot of different things. These findings are a call to engage further studies because these differences may help us understand the causes of asthma, help manage the disease and design state-specific interventions.”
If you already have asthma, says Morrison, it’s important to make sure you have a “medical provider that understands asthma, [and] works with you to develop an asthma action plan to help you control your asthma exacerbations. You need to be followed up routinely, so make sure you have a good medical home.” In order to prevent or control asthma attacks, doctors commonly prescribe medication such as Singulair or a prescription inhaler such as Combivent.
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