who is affected?
 The statistics for Asthma in children are staggering and it is a condition that is seeing increased numbers being affected. Today, more than 5.5 million children in the US under age 18 suffer from Asthma. This represents an increase in 50 percent over the last 15 years.
More that 10 million missed school days a year are due to Asthma. The loss in productivity (by working parents caring for children who miss school due to asthma) costs an estimated $1 billion a year.
Asthma affects more people than you may realize -- take a look at the statistics below from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- Asthma is the number one cause of hospitalization among children under 15.
- In 1994, 5.8 percent of children under age 5 had asthma, a 160 percent increase since 1980.
- The number of children dying from Asthma in the U.S. increased almost threefold from 93 in 1979 to 266 in 1996.
MedicAlert and Living with Asthma
Five-year-old Catherine Brady, from Culver City , CA , suffers from severe Asthma, to the point that she cannot run, ride a bike or play outside on sunny, smoggy days. Catherine's Asthma is also related to a food allergy to peanut butter and peanuts. Catherine's mother, Maha Brady, is worried that Catherine will swap foods with one of her playmates at elementary school, and if she eats something she is allergic to by accident, the following reaction could kill her.
Said Mrs. Brady: "MedicAlert® gives me added security and eases my fears in case of a medical emergency. You never know when an emergency will take place and if I'm not around, I hope people would see Catherine's bracelet and see her condition on the emblem."
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