Overview: Knowing the causes and risks of asthma is important if you want to gain a full understanding of what asthma is and how one develops this chronic disease.
The causes of asthma are varied, but these risks are merely that -- risks. That means there's merely a potential, not a guarantee, that a person will definitely develop asthma down the line.
Asthma Risk Factors: Risk factors are specific traits or events that can increase the likelihood that you will develop asthma at some point in your life. But even though you or your child may be at high risk for asthma, you may be able to hold asthma off or prevent it altogether if you make changes to your lifestyle.
Here are some of the most common asthma risks:
- Family history of asthma and / or allergies
- Living in urban areas
- Exposure to secondhand smoke
- Low birth weight
- Other health problems
- Exposure to irritants on the job
Asthma Statistics: Asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses affecting both children and adults in the western world. Here are some specifics from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology that may shed some light on your risk for developing asthma:
- 1 out of every 4 Americans has asthma and / or allergies
- Around 20 million people in the United States have asthma
- 9 million of those are children under the age of 18 years
- More than 70% of people with asthma also have allergies (10 million Americans)
- Black people are 39% more likely to develop asthma than white people
Asthma can take a devastating toll:
- Asthma accounts for 14.5 million doctor's office and outpatient visits and 2 million emergency room visits in the United States every year
- Asthma care costs $10 billion each year and causes losses in productivity valued at $8 billion a year
- Asthma results in 14.7 million missed school days and 24.5 million missed work days each year
- More than 30,000 people have an asthma attack every day in the United States
- About 5,000 people die each year from asthma
Frequently Asked Questions About Asthma Causes: With any common chronic disease such as asthma, there tends to be quite a lot of misinformation floating around. You can get reliable answers to some of the questions you may have about what really causes asthma by following the below links to About.com Asthma content:
- What Causes Asthma?
- Do Genetic Factors Cause Asthma?
- Are There Environmental Factors That Cause Asthma?
- What Are Some Triggers That Cause Asthma Symptoms?
- Do Allergies Cause Asthma?
- Are There Ethnic Factors That Can Lead to Asthma?
- Are There Gender Differences in Developing Asthma?
- Are There Any Other Asthma Causes & Risks I Should Know About?
The Bottom Line: Asthma should be diagnosed by a licensed medical doctor, preferably one with expertise in treating asthma and allergies. Other diseases can sometimes mimic the symptoms of asthma. Being exposed to one or more of the causes of asthma increases your risk, but it does not mean that a diagnosis of asthma is absolutely inevitable.
However, if your risk is high for asthma, then making changes to avoid some of the causative factors is a great strategy for possibly reducing your risk.
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