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In non-allergic asthma, disease onset and exacerbations result
from factors unrelated to atopy. An episode may be caused by
a range of triggers that include1,2:
As with allergic asthma, management of non-allergic asthma
requires accurate trigger identification and avoidance in addition
to medications to control symptoms (as needed, based on disease
severity).1,2
Asthma facts and figures
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In the U.S., more than 20 million people have
asthma3
-
Approximately 40% of asthma sufferers have non-allergic
asthma4,5
-
9 million U.S. children less than 18 years old have
been diagnosed with asthma3
-
Asthma accounts for an estimated
annual healthcare cost of $16.1 billion6
According to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, in 2002 there were3:
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14 million asthma-related
outpatient visits to private physician offices and hospital
clinics (of which 5 million involved children less than
18 years old)
-
1.9 million asthma-related visits to emergency departments
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11.8 million work days missed due to asthma
- 14.7 million
school days missed due to asthma
Allergic vs. non-allergic: a key to asthma management
Effective
management of asthma requires accurate identification and management
of symptom triggers, as well as medications to control symptoms.1,2 Because
such a large proportion
of asthma patients has allergic disease,4,5 accurate
trigger identification necessitates the determination of the
patient’s atopic status. To help aid your efforts, the Managing
Asthma section of this Web site offers useful information, including guidelines
from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (published
by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute).
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