Asthma

Asthma is a disease of the lung airways. With asthma, the airways are inflamed (swollen) and react easily to certain "triggers," like viruses, smoke, dust, mold, animal hair, roaches, or pollen. When the inflamed airways react, they get narrow and make it hard to breathe.

Common asthma symptoms are:

• wheezing
• coughing
• shortness of breath
• chest tightness

When these symptoms get worse, it's an asthma attack.

More than 17 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and women are more likely than men to die from asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Asthma is a growing concern in this country, especially for African Americans. African Americans go into the hospital more than Whites because of asthma and are more likely to die from asthma. These factors could increase the risk for getting asthma:

• air pollution
• poverty
• poor housing
• lack of education
• can't get to a doctor