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ASTHMA:
LIFE AND DEATH |
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On average,
1,500 people die from asthma each year in the UK. This equates
to four people per day, or one person every six hours. |
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About a third of deaths (34%)
caused by asthma occur in people under the age of 65. |
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An estimated 75% of admissions
for asthma are avoidable and as many as 90% of the deaths (1,500)
from asthma are preventable. |
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There are 18,000 first or
new episodes of asthma presented each week to GPs in the UK. |
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A primary care organisation
of 100,000 people is likely to experience on average 2–3
deaths from asthma per year. |
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Respiratory disease now kills
more people than coronary heart disease – that's one in
four people in the UK. |
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LIVING WITH
SEVERE ASTHMA |
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Respiratory disease is the
most common illness responsible for an emergency admission to
hospital. |
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We estimate 255,000 people
in the UK are living with asthma that can not be controlled
by inhalers or stronger medicine. This represents up to 5% of
people with asthma. |
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We estimate caring for patients
who experience an asthma attack costs more than 3.5 times than
for those who do not. |
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Asthma now costs the NHS an
average of £850 million per year. |
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At a local level, the annual
cost of managing asthma for an average sized primary care organisation
has been estimated at £4 million. |
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ASTHMA IN DAILY LIFE |
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Over 18 million working days
are lost to asthma each year. |
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There are four times as many
people with asthma in the UK than with diabetes. |
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1.2 million people with asthma
experience significant restrictions on their daily lives because
of asthma. |
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For 42% of people with asthma
(2.1 million) their condition requires constant or repeated
attention and their daily life is affected by a range of symptoms.
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Approximately 21% of people
with asthma (1.1 million) experience severe restrictions while
jogging or running. |
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Approximately 17% of people
with asthma (860,000) have severe difficulty walking upstairs
or uphill. |
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Up to 40% of people with asthma
are sensitive to pet allergens. |
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Up to 85% of people with asthma
(4.3 million) are sensitive to house-dust mites. |
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CHILDREN,
PARENTS AND ASTHMA |
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Every 16 minutes a child is
admitted to hospital in England, Scotland or Wales because of
their asthma. |
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One in eight children has asthma
and this figure has increased six-fold in the last 25 years.
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As many as 42% of the UK population
have experienced wheezy illness by the time they reach their
mid 30s. |
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Approximately 30–50%
of the risk of developing asthma is caused by hereditary factors.
If one parent has asthma, the chance of their child developing
asthma is approximately double that of children whose parents
don’t have asthma. |
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Smoking during pregnancy brings
a 50% increased risk of your baby being wheezy or having breathing
difficulties. |
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Children whose parents smoke
are 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma. The risk of asthma
in school age children is increased by approximately 60% in
children of smokers. Approximately 10–15% of childhood
asthma may be attributable to parental smoking. |
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Nearly a third of all long-term
childhood illnesses are due to doctor-diagnosed asthma. |
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Doctor-diagnosed asthma accounts
for 5% of all consultations in children. |
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A primary care organisation
of 100,000 people could expect each year on average almost 4,000
children to be diagnosed with asthma and around 60 emergency
admissions for childhood asthma. |
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One in three children currently
being treated for asthma (including one in five children with
moderate to severe asthma) was seen by a healthcare professional
less than once a year. |
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The UK has the highest prevalence
of severe wheeze in children aged 13–14 years worldwide.
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THE COSTS
OF ASTHMA |
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The estimated annual cost of
treating a child with asthma (£181) is higher than the
cost per adult with asthma (£162). |
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The annual cost of hospital
treatment for asthma per child under 5 years of age is almost
six times greater (£198) than for a child aged 5–15
years (£34). |
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