Date: May 1- May 30, 2022
National Asthma and Allergy Awareness month began in 1984 and is sponsored through the Asthma and Allergy Foundation (AAFA).
Asthma is a chronic disease that causes your airways to become inflamed, making it difficult to breathe.
Allergies are one of the most chronic diseases. It occurs when the body’s immune system sees a substance as harmful and overreacts to it causing an allergic reaction.
Facts
- Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the lung airways that causes coughing, chest tightness, and a shortness of breath.
- 8.3% of Americans have asthma
- Asthma prevalence is higher in children (9.4 percent) than in adults (7.7 percent).
- Asthma results in 439,000 hospitalizations and is 1.3 million emergency room visits annually
- Asthma is the most chronic illness in childhood
- More than 3,500 people die of asthma each year
- Asthma symptoms can be triggered by exposure to an allergen
- Asthma is often hereditary
- There sis no cure for asthma
- Weather conditions such as extremely dry, wet or windy weather can worsen an asthma condition.
- About 32 million Americans have food allergies
- About 24 million Americans have hay fever
Ways to bring awareness:
Educate yourself by downloading a factsheet: AAFA Asthma Facts and Figures April 2021
Use tools to educate family, friends, school and work
Follow on organizations on social media
Order a T-shirt
raise money and donate to a nonprofit organization