Worst Cities for Asthma

From the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America:

St. Louis Named 2009 Asthma Capital
There is no place free from asthma triggers, and some cities are more challenging places to live than others. This year, St. Louis, MO, has been named the top "Asthma Capital" in our annual ranking of the 100 most challenging places to live with asthma.

St. Louis Rises to Top
Up from number nine in 2008, St. Louis has been ranked as the No. 1 Asthma Capital due to a number of factors including a higher than average pollen score, continued poor air quality, a lack of “100% smoke-free” laws and others. See the full report below.

Don't Move - Improve
More than 20 million children and adults live with asthma all over the U.S., making it one of the most common and costly diseases. Experts agree that people can't move away from their asthma since every city in America has a variety of risk factors. Instead, people should work with an asthma specialist to have a good asthma management plan no matter where the live.

Top Asthma Capitals for 2009
1. St. Louis, MO
2. Milwaukee, WI
3. Birmingham, AL
4. Chattanooga, TN
5. Charlotte, NC
6. Memphis, TN
7. Knoxville, TN
8. McAllen, TX
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Little Rock, AR

The Asthma Capitals is an annual research project to call attention to the asthma epidemic and to advocate for changes in each city to improve the quality of life for people with asthma. Rankings are based on analysis of 12 factors in three groups:

Prevalence Factors – morbidity and mortality statistics
Risk Factors – air quality, pollen, "100% smoke-free" laws, poverty and more
Medical Factors – medication usage and access to specialists
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I am certainly glad my city is not on the list. One of my sons has asthma. It is bad enough as it is :(