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FEATURE ARTICLE: Study finds new asthma cases on the decline
Asthma cases in children and young people are on the way down but the poor are still
more likely to suffer, according to new figures.
A study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare compared figures from 2001
with 2007-08 and found the prevalence of asthma in people aged between 5 and 34 years
old had dropped by 25 per cent.
The study also found a drop in the number of new cases among young people and a fall
in hospitalisations and deaths linked to asthma.
The director of the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring, Professor Guy Marks,
says during the 1980s and 1990s the number of cases were increasing, but the long-term
trend is now down.
"Our report today shows that over the last 10 years there's been a decline in the
number of children and young adults who have asthma by around about one quarter compared
to what it was in 2000," he said.
"The same has been seen for the number of people who have been hospitalised from
asthma. There has been a decline probably since the mid-1990s again that seems to have
plateaued in recent years."
The report also found those from disadvantaged areas were more likely to be
hospitalised than people from high socio-economic areas, with the gap widening in recent
years.
Professor Marks says Australia's asthma rates are "relatively high" compared to the
rest of the world, but says the recent decline in cases remains something of a
mystery.
"We can't really say with any certainty what the reason for that trend is," he
said.
"We don't know what causes asthma. We do know that it's likely to be something
related to environment or lifestyle factors, but exactly which ones of those factors it
is we can't say at the moment."
He says while the drop in the disease is good news, asthma remains a significant
health challenge in Australia.
"We have to be careful about being complacent because the prevalence rates and the
outcomes of asthma are still high in Australia compared to other countries," he
said.
"One of the other things that our report shows is there's increasing evidence of a
difference between people living in poorer areas and people living in more well off
areas of Australia.
"The prevalence of asthma is higher in people living in more disadvantaged areas and
also the outcomes of the disease are worse in people living in those areas."
The report shows the rates of asthma in people aged over 35 haven't declined and that
Indigenous Australians have a higher prevalence of both asthma and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, a smoking-related disease.
The report contained a chapter on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which shows
that rates of the disease in Australia are also high, but mortality and hospitalisations
from this condition have been declining over the past decade too.
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