Asthma is a chronic disease in which the lungs become inflamed and airways narrow and react to triggers. These triggers can be found in both indoor and outdoor environments. The most common outdoor triggers are pollen, exercise, pollution, particulate matter, diesel fuel and pesticides. Indoor triggers for asthma include mold, dust, smoke, secondhand smoke and pet dander.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the U.S. Vermont has one of the highest rates of asthma among adults (12%) and women (15%).
If you have asthma, work with your health care provider to make a written asthma management plan (also called an Asthma Action Plan).
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Read the Racial and Ethnic Differences in Asthma Emergency Department Visits data brief to learn more. For information about disparities in environmental health, visit the Environmental Justice & Public Health page.
Asthma is a disease that affects the airways that carry oxygen in and out of the lungs. The airways of a person with asthma narrow and swell and can produce extra mucous, making breathing difficult. A cause for asthma has not been specifically identified. Some risk factors include a family history of asthma, allergies, occupational exposures, viral respiratory infections or smoking.
Air pollution can trigger attacks and make asthma symptoms worse. Two key air pollutants can affect asthma: ozone and particle pollution. When ozone or particle pollution are in the air, adults and children with asthma are more likely to have difficulty breathing.
Ozone is often worst on hot summer days, especially in the afternoons and early evenings. Particle pollution can be bad any time of year, even in winter. Particle levels can also be high near busy roads, during rush hour, and around factories and when smoke is in the air from wood stoves, fireplaces, forest fires or burning vegetation.
A lengthening growing season and increased plant growth due to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air will likely increase allergenic pollen in the air we breathe. This could have widespread respiratory impacts to Vermonters, especially those with asthma.
More frequent heavy precipitation events and other severe weather events—such as high winds, flooding, and winter storms—can cause water damage to buildings, increasing problems with household mold. Climate-induced increases in indoor dampness can increase health problems related to dampness and mold, such as worsening asthma.
Vermont Tracking provides annual data about hospitalizations for asthma starting in 2000, and emergency department visits for asthma starting in 2003.
