Asthma

Indoor Air Quality

Related Links

Indoor Air Environments
Indoor Air Quality in Schools
Outdoor Air Triggers
DHSS Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by variable airflow obstruction and airway hyper-responsiveness in which prominent clinical manifestations include wheezing and shortness of breath. All too often, it means kids that can't breathe.

Factors that contribute to asthma are numerous, and include genetics, infection, allergies, socio-economics and the environment.

An analysis of the Missouri Information for Community Assessment data reveals that 99.16% of asthma hospitalizations are preventable. This equates to a tremendous savings, and improved quality of life, if the right steps were taken to prevent and limit asthma.

Much of asthma is preventable because most asthmatic episodes are "triggered" by something in the environment. These can be chemical or biological "triggers" indoors or outdoors.