Asthma Statistics Worldwide

An asthma patient has particularly sensitive air passages, or airways, resulting in difficult breathing for the patient when these air passages are irritated from an introduced substance or atmospheric change.

Among both children and adults, asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses in countries including the United States and much of Europe.  Because asthma is considered a chronic illness, treatment regimens for patients must be followed accordingly in order to reduce the affects and ongoing health problems that can result from mismanagement of the condition.

Researchers have discovered that the environment is one of the leading causes of asthma, and acute asthma attacks.  Studies are underway to determine whether environmental modification could possible reduce – or increase – the number of asthma cases worldwide.

The United States

Nearly 24 million people living in the U.S. currently suffer from asthma on some severity level.  Approximately 40% of those people are children.  Thus, over ten percent of the children in the United States are currently affected by asthma, and its symptoms.  Asthma is one of the leading reasons stated on parental excuses for children missing school, and this number of affected and diagnosed children is continually on the rise. 

Approximately 500 thousand people are hospitalized annually as a result of asthma symptoms and attacks and 5,000 deaths per year are recorded as resulting from asthma or asthma related conditions.

The number of patients diagnosed the number of deaths and the number of hospitalization rise annually according to statistics. However, with the newest medical advances this number will hopefully decline in the future.  Unfortunately for these new patients, health care costs also increase annually, often making the necessary medications unattainable for some patients.

The United Kingdom

In the UK, 10% of children and 8% of adults suffer from asthma.  Compared to the U.S., the U.K. experiences fewer deaths per year as a result of the condition and its symptoms. Only 1,400 U.K. people die from asthma, and significant to note is that more than one third are people who are not yet 65 years old.  Each year there are around seventy thousand hospital admissions, including the admission of around 28 thousand kids.  Nearly 200 thousand of the patients have asthma symptoms that are so severe that they cannot control the illness with inhalers, requiring much stronger medication.  Asthma treatment costs the government in the neighborhood of £889 million per year.

In the U.K., management of asthma is not as good as in the U.S., considering that only a little over five percent of patients ever receive their treatment plan in writing.  Follow-up testing and treatment is also lacking, and often when a patient’s condition deteriorates they are unaware.
 
A study performed with teens thirteen to fourteen in over fifty countries indicated that the United Kingdom has the fifth largest number of asthma patients in the world.

Australia

Although asthma cases are on the rise in Australia, totalling around 2 milling, the number of asthma related deaths has steadily declined over the past decade.   Australia is the home of one of the most effective asthma medication on the market today; perhaps there is a connection between the statistics and the medications available.

General

The number of asthma cases globally continuously rises each year, with approximately 300 million people worldwide experiencing some amount of symptoms from the illness.  Researchers are currently investigating treatment options to reduce that number.

In most countries, the number of deaths related to asthma and asthma related causes continues to rise as well. The thought among the medical community is that by increasing patient education and involving the patient in the development of treatment plans and testing plans, there is a better chance to reduce these statistics globally.

Asthma Guide

• Asthma Information
• Symptoms of Asthma
• Asthma Treatment
• Controlling an Asthma Attack
• Asthma and Allergy
• Vocal Cord Dysfunction
• Acid Reflux and Asthma
• Asthma Causes and Triggers
• Asthma and Pregnancy

• Asthma Medications and Pregnancy
• Exercise Induced Asthma
• Asthma and Exercise
• Occupational Asthma
• Peak Flow Meters
• Asthma Diagnosis
• Asthma Statistics
• Asthma and Altitude
• Living with Asthma