Asthma, an insidious, suffocating disease, is spreading across New York City

TAKING OUR BREATH AWAY
Asthma, an insidious, suffocating disease, is spreading across New York City in epidemic proportions, overwhelming the public health system as it steals the breath from ever more people. An estimated half-million New Yorkers, from the tiniest infants to the frail elderly, now suffer from this chronic, incurable illness more than 16% of the population.With numbers that large, the city has the worst asthma rate in the country. The hospitalization rate here is triple the national average and...

ASTHMA TOPS CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES, N.E. STUDY EXAMINES ENVIRONMENT, POVERTY AS CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Asthma affects one in eight children in New England, eclipsing all other chronic illnesses of childhood and flooding emergency rooms and clinics with hacking, wheezing youngsters, according to a report scheduled to be released this week.The study from a coalition of federal and state public health agencies provides the most comprehensive assessment ever of asthma in the six-state region. It found that more than 400,000 children have been diagnosed with the condition and that its...


Asthma on the rise HOUSE CALLS
Asthma affects more than 10 million Americans. It is the most common chronic childhood illness and is one of the leading causes of school and work absence. The number of people diagnosed with asthma rises every year.What is asthma?Asthma is a respiratory condition characterized by obstruction of airflow in and out of the lungs. Two factors contribute to the obstruction. One involves the tightening of the muscles around the airways. The other occurs when the walls of the airway become...