Who is affected by asthma According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, in
2002:1 - 30.8 million people reported that they had at one
time been diagnosed with
asthma.
- Of those who were diagnosed with
asthma, 20 million reported that they still had it. Of these, 6.1 million were
children and 14 million were adults.
- 12 million people reported
having had an asthma attack during the previous 12 months. In other words,
about 60% of the people who had asthma at the time of the survey had had an
asthma attack in the previous year.
- There were 1.9 million visits
to the hospital emergency room for asthma. Children age 4 and younger had to go
to the emergency room the most often.
- About 4,000 people died of
asthma.
Although many people with asthma suffer from poorly controlled
symptoms, evidence suggests that when taken correctly, currently available
medications are very effective in controlling symptoms in the majority of
people with asthma.
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