10 worst cities to live in if you have asthma

Have you ever wondered if there was a "safer" place to live if you have asthma? 

When my kids were younger and frequently in the hospital, I wondered the same thing. Out of desperation, I asked Asthma Doc, "Is there a better place to live for asthma?" He sort of chuckled and then said, "There are going to be asthma triggers wherever you go - cats, dogs, dust, plants, grass, etc. You could move to a new area that has new plants that you aren't used to - then that would cause more allergy and asthma problems."

Rats. I was hoping he would say that medically, the best place for us to live was Hawaii. A girl can try, can't she?!

 

Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA) have released their list of the top 100 worst place to live if you have asthma. You can see the Top 10 on WebMd's site 

You can visit AAFA's website to see all 100 cities.This is how they decide which cities are the worst:

"2015 Rank - Rankings for the Allergy Capitals™ are based on analysis of data from factors including: Prevalence Data, Seasonal Pollen,

Allergy Medicine Utilization per Patient, and the number of Board Certified Allergists per patient. Weights were applied to each factor and a

composite final score was calculated for each Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)."

Sounds technical, but they are looking at how many people in that city have asthma, the pollen counts, how many people are taking allergy medicine, and if there is an asthma specialist in the city. 

I'm not sure how they gather their data - see how many bottles of Zyrtec, Allegra or Claritin the local Walgreens sells?!

Anyway, it's fun to look at the list and see if your city is on it. 

Happy viewing!