The 10 Worst Cities in the U.S. for Asthma

By Ramon Gonzalez, TreeHugger

On World Asthma Day, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America named Memphis, Tennessee the new Asthma Capital of the U.S. According to the AAFA, more than 300 million people worldwide are living with asthma and nearly 25 million of them live here in the U.S.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine describes asthma as a disorder that causes the airways of lungs to swell and narrow, leading to wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing.

Top Asthma Capitals for 2012

To create their top 10 cities list for 2012, researchers looked at 12 sets of data for the 100 largest U.S. cities. The cities were ranked based on factors like air pollution, ozone days, pollen counts, medication use, poverty rates and public smoking laws.

1. Memphis, TN
2. New Haven, CT
3. Knoxville, TN
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Chattanooga, TN
6. Hartford, CT
7. St. Louis, MO
8. Oklahoma City, OK
9. McAllen, TX
10. Allentown, PA

Next: What should you do if you live in an asthma capital? Where does your city rank?

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Aud N.

7:29AM PDT on Apr 12, 2013

April 12
send a green star

Donna H.

9:33AM PST on Jan 5, 2013

Thanks for the info.

January 5
send a green star

A N M.

1:02PM PDT on Sep 1, 2012

Oh well, not much one can do about it, I suppose. If you have asthma, you might try not to live there. I suffer from severe allergies in certain places and simply try to avoid them. That's all I can do.

September 1
send a green star

Ajla C.

7:56AM PDT on Sep 1, 2012

Nije samo zagađenje problem,ima dsota toga još.

Lynn L.

2:55AM PDT on Aug 29, 2012

I & a few of my co-workers have asthma. We exposed to a daily chemical assault of people spraying heavy perfumes & using cleaning agents . We have explained this to management & healthy co-workers to no avail. Emails are sent out saying " don't do this" , but when it happens management does nothing to address the problem. They don't want to understand once these irritants are inhaled it places the body in a weakened condition & can take hours/days to recover. At best this is bullying & abuse. Some of them think it's funny when we can't breathe. The maturity level we deal with is deplorable. If I could afford to quit, I would . BTW we are a Fortune 11 company.

August 29
send a green star

Winn A.

4:09PM PDT on Aug 20, 2012

Thanks

August 20
send a green star

Kathy P.

2:54PM PDT on Aug 18, 2012

yikes. glad I am not near any of those.

August 18
send a green star

Dale O.

8:24AM PDT on Jul 31, 2012

Margaret D., yes smoking can most definitely trigger health problems via second hand smoke, especially in enclosed spaces. Being outdoors and exposed to smoke can certainly create havoc for others as smoke clings, permeates and is otherwise invasive.

Ontario has even passed a law where it is illegal to smoke if you are in a car with children under 16. Countless studies have proven that second hand smoke is detrimental and public places are often full of those with asthma problems triggered by smoke. While I don't have asthma several people I know do.

Interesting article!