CDC’s National Asthma Control Program helps Americans with asthma achieve better health and improved quality of life and to reduce the overall hardship that asthma puts on the workforce, healthcare system, and communities.
We are a resource for people with asthma.
- We collect information and follow trends related to asthma.
- We share our knowledge with the programs we support and the asthma community.
- We fund programs to create localized efforts to assist people with asthma.
- We study the impact of asthma programs and treatment measures.
Asthma Impacts Your State
According to the Profiles, in 2007 asthma was the underlying cause of death for the following states:
Asthma affects an estimated 18.7 million adults (aged +18 years) and 7 million children (aged< 18 years) in the United States. CDC's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) recently released the 2011 Asthma State Profiles to provide an overview of the burden of asthma in 34 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, all of which receive funding from the CDC National Asthma Control Program.
The 2011 Asthma State Profiles provide information about the number of people who are affected by asthma in each state. TheProfiles address the following categories:
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Click on your state within the map to get more detailed information.
Learn More about Asthma
Asthma is a disease that
- affects your lungs,
- is one of the most common long-term diseases of children (adults can have it, too), and
- causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and night time or early morning coughing.
The exact cause of asthma is unknown, and asthma cannot be cured. However, if you or your child has asthma, it can be controlled by doing the following:
- Receiving ongoing medical care and education about how to manage asthma and asthma attacks.
- Avoiding asthma triggers at school, work, home, outdoors, and elsewhere.
Triggers for asthma can include mold, tobacco smoke, outdoor air pollution, and infections linked to influenza, colds, and other viruses. Avoiding these triggers, along with using inhaled corticosteroids and other medicines, are the keys to preventing an asthma attack. Visit CDC’s National Asthma Control Program site to learn more about asthma and how you can manage it.
Airing Asthma’s Story
Asthma Control for Preschoolers…CDC Helps Makes it as Easy as A B C!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Asthma Control Program (NACP) helps state and local programs teach people how to prevent asthma attacks and gain control over asthma.The Problem
About one in ten preschool children is diagnosed with asthma. This age group has twice the number of asthma-related emergency department visits and overnight hospital stays as older kids. There are not many asthma management programs designed for parents of preschool children who need the tools and information to keep their children healthy.
About one in ten preschool children is diagnosed with asthma. This age group has twice the number of asthma-related emergency department visits and overnight hospital stays as older kids. There are not many asthma management programs designed for parents of preschool children who need the tools and information to keep their children healthy.
CDC Supports Programs to Address the Problem of Asthma Control
CDC’s NACP funded a unique intervention for preschoolers, called Asthma Basics for Children (ABC). The ABC intervention resulted in positive changes including increased attendance at school and better interactions between parents and healthcare providers.
CDC’s NACP funded a unique intervention for preschoolers, called Asthma Basics for Children (ABC). The ABC intervention resulted in positive changes including increased attendance at school and better interactions between parents and healthcare providers.
The Plan: Educate Families and Daycare Providers to Reduce Asthma Risk
CDC launched ABC in over 30 daycare centers in New York City to bring greater asthma control to young children. The local CDC-funded programs trained daycare center staff on ways to reduce the risk of asthma attacks. As a result, they knew how to find “triggers” of asthma – the things that might set-off an attack. For example, unneeded rugs were removed, daycare workers dusted more often, and employees changed air conditioner filters to keep room air cleaner.
CDC launched ABC in over 30 daycare centers in New York City to bring greater asthma control to young children. The local CDC-funded programs trained daycare center staff on ways to reduce the risk of asthma attacks. As a result, they knew how to find “triggers” of asthma – the things that might set-off an attack. For example, unneeded rugs were removed, daycare workers dusted more often, and employees changed air conditioner filters to keep room air cleaner.
Parents attended workshops, films, and question and answer sessions with doctors. The program also held trainings with children’s healthcare providers. These trainings stressed the importance of knowing how to talk with parents of children with asthma and how to decide on the best medicine for each child. They also helped develop asthma action plans for kids. An action plan is a personal plan to help people control their asthma. Everyone with asthma should have an action plan. Read the rest of this story…and learn about A, B, C’s Positive Outcomes.
Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is one of the most common long-term diseases of children, but adults can have asthma, too. Asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing at night or early in the morning. If you have asthma, you have it all the time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers your lungs.
During a checkup, the doctor will ask if you cough a lot, especially at night, and whether your breathing problems are worse after physical activity or at certain times of year. The doctor will also ask about chest tightness, wheezing, and colds lasting more than 10 days. They will ask whether anyone in your family has or has had asthma, allergies, or other breathing problems, and they will ask questions about your home. The doctor will also ask if you have missed school or work and about any trouble you may have doing certain things.
An asthma attack may include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. The attack happens in your body’s airways, which are the paths that carry air to your lungs. As the air moves through your lungs, the airways become smaller, like the branches of a tree are smaller than the tree trunk. During an asthma attack, the sides of the airways in your lungs swell and the airways shrink. Less air gets in and out of your lungs, and mucous that your body makes clogs up the airways even more.
Tobacco smoke is unhealthy for everyone, especially people with asthma. If you have asthma and you smoke, quit smoking.
Outdoor air pollution can trigger an asthma attack. This pollution can come from factories, automobiles, and other sources. Pay attention to air quality forecasts on radio, television, and the Internet and check your newspaper to plan your activities for when air pollution levels will be low.
Cockroaches and their droppings can trigger an asthma attack. Get rid of cockroaches in your home by removing as many water and food sources as you can. Cockroaches are often found where food is eaten and crumbs are left behind. At least every 2 to 3 days, vacuum or sweep areas that might attract cockroaches. Use roach traps or gels to cut down on the number of cockroaches in your home.
Furry pets can trigger an asthma attack. If you think a furry pet may be causing attacks, you may want to find the pet another home. If you can’t or don’t want to find a new home for the pet, keep it out of the person with asthma’s bedroom.
Breathing in mold can trigger an asthma attack. Get rid of mold in your home to help control your attacks. Humidity, the amount of moisture in the air, can make mold grow. An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the humidity level low. Get a small tool called a hygrometer to check humidity levels and keep them as low as you can—no higher than 50%. Humidity levels change over the course of a day, so check the humidity levels more than once a day. Fix water leaks, which let mold grow behind walls and under floors.
Smoke from burning wood or other plants is made up of a mix of harmful gases and small particles. Breathing in too much of this smoke can cause an asthma attack. If you can, avoid burning wood in your home. If a wildfire is causing poor air quality in your area pay attention to air quality forecasts on radio, television, and the Internet and check your newspaper to plan your activities for when air pollution levels will be low.
Everyone with asthma does not take the same medicine. Some medicines can be breathed in, and some can be taken as a pill. Asthma medicines come in two types—quick-relief and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control the symptoms of an asthma attack. If you need to use your quick-relief medicines more and more, visit your doctor to see if you need a different medicine. Long-term control medicines help you have fewer and milder attacks, but they don’t help you while you are having an asthma attack.