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| |  Asthma Incidence Rising Dramatically In U.S. Population NEW YORK, NY -- May 7, 1998 -- The number of asthma cases in the United States has doubled in the past two decades, from 6.8 million in 1980 to an estimate of more than 15 million today, according to an asthma expert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The number of deaths have increased, the number of hospitalisations, the number of office visits--most of the ways that you measure the severity of asthma have increased," explained Stephen Redd, M.D., of the air pollution and respiratory health branch, division of environmental hazards and health effects, at the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health. Dr. Redd spoke today at an American Medical Association media briefing on advances in treating and managing asthma. About five percent of the U.S. population has asthma. The highest proportion is among children aged five to 14. In 1993-94, 7.4 percent of children in that age group had asthma. But Dr. Redd says asthma is on the rise throughout the population. "I think it is an issue of concern that the rates are higher in all age groups than they have been in the past," he said. "This isn't a problem that is just occurring in young children." Dr. Redd added there's really no answer to the question of why asthma rates are so high right now. The cause of asthma itself is still something of a mystery -- as is the question of why some people develop asthma and others don't. "There is certainly an inherited component but not everybody whose parents have asthma will develop asthma themselves, even though they're at greater risk for it," he said. Dr. Redd explained it hasn't been determined yet what exposures might cause a susceptible person to develop asthma. "I think a lot of people would hypothesise or suppose that the things that cause attacks in people who have asthma also have a role in the initial development of asthma. But I don't know that we really know that," he said. "The genetic makeup of the population couldn't have changed enough to see the increases in asthma that are being seen in many developed countries. So there's got to be some kind of environmental exposure, but exactly what that is really isn't known." The spectrum of hypotheses includes diet and indoor air -- and at this point, he said, nothing can really be rejected. The growing number of asthma cases presents a two-fold challenge. The first task is to assure that people with asthma have good medical care, Dr. Redd said. The second is to make sure patients know what they can do to reduce their exposure to known triggers of asthma attacks. Some environmental factors, such as ozone levels, are beyond the individual's control. But Dr. Redd said he believes most of the exposures are really within the home environment and indoors. While children can't do much to affect their school environment, Dr. Redd said there's a lot they and their families can do within the home to minimise asthma attacks. Asthma triggers such as house dust, mites, cockroaches, pet fur and tobacco smoke can be limited or eliminated. Dr. Redd added everyone with persistent asthma needs to be on medication to prevent flare-ups. "It's a significant change in the management of asthma -- recognising that asthma could be prevented by chronic anti-inflammatory medication," he explained. "I think there needs to be a real effort to make sure people who have asthma are on those kinds of medicine."
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