LAKELAND, Fla. — About 25 million individuals residing in the United States have asthma, in accordance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A brand new report, discovered Lakeland is the most challenging metropolis in the south, for an individual with asthma.
Emily Stewart, 21, has had extreme asthma most of her life. “As I’ve gotten older, my asthma has progressively gotten worse.”
Stewart mentioned her signs are particularly unhealthy when the seasons change.
“You just feel like your chest is really heavy. It’ll feel like you have something sitting on your chest. It’s hard to breathe. You’re wheezing, you’re coughing and it’s just kind of non-stop. It’ll wake me up out of the night sometimes,” Stewart mentioned.
The Lakeland native makes use of numerous remedies to enhance her high quality of life, together with totally different inhalers and injections. However, a brand new report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) ranked Lakeland as the worst place to live in the south if in case you have asthma.
“Pollen counts are definitely an asthma trigger, as are viral infections. 80% of asthma exacerbation in children are triggered by viral infections such as rhinovirus and other similar viruses that cause common cold symptoms. Air pollution can be a trigger,” mentioned Dr. Kathryn Convers, proprietor of Lakeland Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
The research checked out asthma prevalence, emergency room visits due to asthma assaults, and asthma-related deaths. Lakeland got here in fourth in the complete nation.
“We’re diagnosing patients newly with asthma on a daily basis,” mentioned Dr. Convers.
Dr. Convers mentioned her workplace has a three-month wait for brand spanking new sufferers. The report additionally examined entry to medical care, the place Lakeland is ranked tenth for the fewest asthma specialists. Dr. Convers is trying to carry on extra physicians to her apply.
“We definitely recognize the greater need in Lakeland for asthma, allergy and immunology specialists, and so we absolutely hope to grow in the near future,” Dr. Convers.