The ALA reports that each year about 349,000 Americans die of lung disease, making it the number-three killer, responsible for one in seven deaths. Death rates from chronic lower respiratory disease have increased sharply; in 1980 the age-adjusted death rate was 28.3 deaths per one hundred thousand resident population; by 2002 the rate had climbed to 43.5 per one hundred thousand. (See Table 5.8.)
The lungs are especially vulnerable to airborne particles, such as viruses, bacteria, tobacco smoke, pollen, fungi, and air pollution. Workers exposed to certain airborne hazards—cotton fibers, asbestos, and coal, metal, and silica dust—also can develop serious lung diseases. Pneumoconiosis is the general term for occupationally induced lung diseases.
Children are especially sensitive to respiratory problems. According to the ALA, acute respiratory diseases account for more than one-half of all school absenteeism.
Asthma
According to the CDC National Center for Environmental Health, in 2003 an estimated 29.8 million Americans had been diagnosed with asthma at some time in their lives, and eleven million had experienced an asthma attack in the previous year (http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/aag05.htm). Figure 5.21 shows the prevalence rates of adults by state. Asthma is the most common chronic illness among children; in 2003 about nine million children younger than eighteen years of age had asthma. (See Figure 5.22.)
People with asthma experience acute attacks of wheezing and shortness of breath. This difficulty in breathing is caused by a sudden narrowing of the bronchial tubes. Usually it is not life threatening, but asthma often limits activities and can be extremely serious for the very young and the very old.
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