Is asthma on the rise?

Is asthma on the rise?

William Berger (Allergist and Immunologist) gives expert video advice on: What is "asthma"?; Can people die from asthma?; What causes asthma? and more...

The incidence of asthma is certainly on the rise. In fact, the number of cases of asthma has actually doubled in the past twenty years, and it seems to correlate with a lot of things that we are noticing in our environment. There are more things like diesel fuel and more air pollution. The quality of air is not as good as it used to be. In addition, we notice that asthma also correlates with an increase in other allergic conditions. We are seeing much more hayfever or what we refer to as allergic rhinitis. We are seeing more sinus problems. We are seeing more food allergies. So in general, the incidence of allergies and asthma is increasing in the population and in many cases such as inner city areas like in South Bronx in New York, it has actually reached epidemic proportions.