Asthma cases increase sixfold in 30 years in Japan

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 30 Sep 2004 - 0:00 PDT


An increasing number of children are suffering from bronchial asthma in Japan. The rise has been so rapid that the number of cases has increased sixfold in the past 30 years.

As summer turns to autumn, families of suffering children are unable to live in peace as the children repeatedly suffer from attacks.

Medical experts point out that modern draft-free houses, the proliferation of heaters and other developments in housing have helped dust mites--seen as one of the main causes of the disease--grow in number.

However, the exact causes vary widely, and studies of countermeasures against the disease remain insufficient.

Only 1 percent of children suffered from bronchial asthma in the 1960s, but that figure rose sharply to between 3.9 percent and 8.2 percent in the 1990s. The percentage also widely varies among regions.

In addition, children are becoming asthmatic at younger ages, as 80 percent of sufferers develop symptoms by the age of 3.

Nationwide, about 6,000 people die of the disease every year. Worryingly, it also has increased among those aged between 15 and 29.

Many asthma attacks are caused by an acute allergic reaction to common allergens, including house dust, mites, cat and dog hair, cockroach feces, fungi, pollen, hen eggs, dairy products, buckwheat and wheat.

Medical experts say 90 percent of children who develop asthma are sensitized by dust mites. Modern housing conditions, which provide a draught-free environment with comfortable temperatures and humidity are, ironically, also the best conditions for ticks to breed. CONTINUES......www.yomiuri.co.jp

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