Why Is Asthma Important?

Asthma is a serious problem nationwide. It is also a significant problem in the state of Massachusetts, especially in communities in Boston. However, according to Harvard School of Public Health and NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, Roxbury and North Dorchester are highly noticeable hotspots (Backus, Terrell, Wool, & Straubel, 2012, p. 23). For the purpose of this paper, the main focus will be on asthma cases in

Childhood asthma is a growing healthcare issue in the United States. It is a common childhood medical disorder that affects approximately 7.1 million children under the age of 18. It is estimated that 4.1 million of this population suffered from an asthma episode in 2011 (American Lung Association, [ALA], 2014). Interestingly, children make up less than 20% of the United States population; however, it estimated that 29 % of hospitalization discharges were contributed to children with asthma who are under the age of 15.

In this paper, I will explore asthma prevalence of children living in New York City. Asthma is an existing serious public health concern in inner cities and urban environments. Especially children with asthma from low SES families or minority groups face difficulties accessing health care, receiving high-quality continuous care, and preventative education. In other words, there is a disparity in the asthma prevalence and care in New York City.

As of 2009, studies conducted by the CDC have shown that asthma impacts approximately one in every twelve people, and the numbers only continue to grow (CDC, 2011). Some of the most common symptoms can range anywhere from coughing (especially at night or during exercise), wheezing and chest tightness, to shortness of breath. Asthma is often a chronic condition and while many times it can present itself as being mild, it can also sometimes lead to death if a person suffers an asthma attack. Asthma can be genetic, but it can also be caused, as well as exacerbated by, environmental factors such as air pollution. Studies have shown that children living in the Bronx are experiencing asthma at levels eight times higher than the national average. In addition, rates of death from asthma are a whopping three times higher than the national average, and hospitalization rates at about five times higher.” (Ruppell, 2000). Asthma is not a disease that targets only one group of people, yet the Bronx still exhibits disproportionately high levels of asthma especially in neighborhoods that are poorer areas of the city. In fact, people from these poor areas are 21 times more likely to be hospitalized due to asthmatic conditions compared to people from more affluent parts of the city (Ruppell,

Healthy People 2020 (HP) has set a goal to “promote respiratory health through better prevention, detection, treatment, and education efforts.” One focus is to reduce asthma deaths among children and adults under age 35 years (Healthy People 2000, 2017). HP also recognizes that asthma has many components that can be classified as either genetic or environmental. They are working to both to improve the quality of life for those who suffer from asthma as to reduce the strain ill place on societal recourses. Assessing living situations for environmental triggers is one evidence based practice that can be initialized and then to make modifications that immediately impact the health of an asthma sufferer. Secondly, making sure medical supervision

Asthma is prevalent in all countries regardless of level of the development. According to the World Health Organization 235 million people worldwide have asthma. It is however estimated that 80% of asthma deaths occur in low income countries (World Health Organization, 2015). Within the United States there are many climates and environmental triggers that can cause an exacerbation is asthma symptoms. According to the NHLBI hospitalization is three times higher among African Americans than white, and Puerto Ricans have the highest rate of asthma attacks and deaths related to asthma. Severe asthma is more common among women, children, low income inner city residents, Puerto Ricans, and African American. This disparity within the

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the respiratory system and has a considerable impact on both individuals and a population. Everybody is susceptible to asthma, some more than others, depending of a variety of factors including, age, sex, geographical location and income. Asthma is particularly prevalent in younger children and the elderly and while it can be fatal, most people have mild cases of asthma that are relatively easy to treat. The condition mainly impacts an individual’s physical ability to contribute to a community.

About 10% of American children have asthma (Thakur et al., 2013). It is vital to understand what determinants cause childhood asthma to understand even with a low percentage, why it is still present. According to Williams et al., asthma is a health outcome which is a major impact on American youth (Williams et al., 2009). This health outcome not only impacts them throughout the years of being a child, but it has the potential of creating more serious health problems in the future. And without knowing what the causes are, it increases the rate asthma among children and prevents treatments from being implemented. It needs to be addressed by using results from prior studies in order to show how much of a problem childhood asthma is but also in finding and understanding the other underlying

Discuss the prevalence of asthma in certain patient populations that you might see in primary care. Asthma is chronic airway inflammation disorder that is characterized by persistent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and non-productive cough, mainly at night and in the early morning. The inflammation of the airway results from physical, chemical, and pharmacologic stimulus, which causes bronchial hyper-responsiveness, constriction of the airways, edema of airway wall, and chronic airway remodeling (Cash, 2014). Asthma occurs at all ages, with about 50% of all cases developing during childhood and another 30% before age 40. In the United States, it is estimated that 25 million people have asthma and the prevalence continues to increase (McCance, & Huether, 2014). Previously, asthma was considered

Asthma-related ER visits and inpatient hospitalizations in zip code (65616) for years (2010-2014) are higher among females (53.3% and 59.8٪) (Figure1&7), respectively than males (46.6% and 40.2٪) respectively (Figure1&7), which is consistent with the statistics that confirm asthma is more prevalent among females than males. The white asthmatic patients have higher percentages of ER visits for asthma by 87.3% compared with black or African American by 12.7% (Figure2) (CDC, 2013). This result differs from the national

Deaths from asthma are particularly tragic, but most can be avoided through proper management. Asthma mortality rates may seem to decline, but the racial / ethnic differences are significant (Wilson, 2010). Many factors are associated with the high rates of asthma deaths, include: the lack of appropriate drugs, the lack of an action plan for asthma, over-reliance on relief inhalers, lack of insurance coverage, exposure to tobacco smoke, drugs or alcohol abuse, poverty, obesity, and stress.

While traveling through the daily path of life, have you ever stumbled upon a hidden pocket of the universe? Well I have, especially as an athlete. As an athlete my life consists mainly around 3 things school, practices and lots of late night studying. I've faced a lot of obstacles growing up because I wasn't always an athlete. I was a short, chubby, asthmatic kid. Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows our airways. As a victim of asthma it was a huge part of my life. At the age of 8 I had about 47 walking pneumonia's in 1 year! But that didn't stop me, when I just has started the fifth grade I had a long, miserable talk with my parents about football and if whether I should play or not. It all came down to my mom deciding

Prevention of asthma is not the focus of interventions since it is not a preventable disease, but rather the focus is to intervene with the management of the disease. There are some protective factors that can be employed so that the occurrence of asthma attacks is reduced, or at least, well managed. Once someone has been identified as having asthma, the goal is to manage it well so that there are as few asthma attacks as possible. In 2008, the National Asthma Control Initiative (NACI) was created. The goal of creating the NACI is to have the ability to work with different partners throughout the community to successfully put asthma guidelines into action beginning with the home and moving out into the community, which may include schools, health care settings, as well as other parts of the community. (National Asthma Control Initiative [NACI], 2011).

Asthma is a respiratory disease characterized by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, resulting in difficulty breathing as well as coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness. This condition affects nearly 26 million Americans, and causes over 5,000 deaths and 2 million emergency department visits in the US each year. While asthma affects people of every race, sex, and age, it is more prevalent in specific populations of people, such as low-income housing communities in San Diego. Various risk factors contribute to the development of asthma, such as (1) having a parent that lives with (or has a history with) asthma, (2) being classified as an overweight individual, (3) having sensitization to different irritants and allergens, and (4) struggling

Experts have yet to understand why the rates of asthma are rising by an average of 50% every decade worldwide. According to the Asthma Society of Canada (2016), asthma is now considered to be a major health concern with approximately 235 million suffering from this illness worldwide. Kuhn et al (2015) states that as at 2012, one out of 12 people in the United States had asthma and the number continues to rise. More people have been diagnosed with this disease and in 2007; over 3000 deaths were linked to Asthma. Furthermore, the costs of treating asthma continue to rise with about 56 billion dollars being spent in 2007 compared to $53 billion in 2002 (CDC, 2011). From data gathered in California, which is our area of study, it was estimated that 2.3 million