DAVANGERE: There are over 10 crore asthma patients in India, which has the second highest asthma mortality rate in the world.

Bangalore has the largest number of asthma patients in the country.

These facts were disclosed to the media by a team of doctors of S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences here recently.

The team comprised N.K. Kalappanavar, P. Nagaraj and Amaresh. They said the number of asthma patients had increased three fold in the last two decades.

In Bangalore, children were more prone to asthma for various reasons.

The doctors said that premature babies weighing less than 2.5 kg were more vulnerable to asthma. In Davangere, over 8 per cent of the population suffered from asthma.

New therapy

The doctors said that proper medication in the initial stages of the disease could save the life of the affected person. A therapy that made extensive use of steroids that reached the lungs directly without causing side effects had been developed.

This treatment could be given to children from six weeks to 12 weeks depending on the condition.

World Asthma Day

The S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences is observing World Asthma Day on May 2 and as part of the programme, a free check-up, counselling and treatment to affected persons would be given between 9 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.

Special lectures on "Asthma and its cure" will be delivered by specialists in the field, during the programme.

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