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It is tragically common these days to see children–and adults–puffing on small blue puffers or wheezing for breath during exercise. Since 1980, the prevalence and incidence of asthma has increased by 80 percent.

It affects at least five percent of the population and is most common in children under 10, with boys affected twice as often as girls. Asthma is now the major cause of school absenteeism for children under 15 years of age in North America and can be a potentially life-threatening condition. In fact, the mortality rate from asthma has increased by 300 percent since 1980.

What exactly is this health problem that affects a high percentage of our youth? Asthma is a hypersensitivity condition of the lungs associated with spasm of the bronchial tubes, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and excessive production of bronchial mucous. There are basically two types of asthma:

A practising physician in Toronto with a master’s degree in biochemistry and clinical nutrition, Dr. Rona was the medical editor of the alive Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, and he has also written three Canadian best-sellers, including Return to the Joy of Health (alive Books, 1995) and Childhood Illness and the Allergy Connection (1997). Visit his website at drzoltanrona.com.

Source: alive #247, May 2003