Diseases A to Z

August 2007

• Asian/Pacific Islander mothers experienced higher mean levels of air pollution and were more than twice as likely to live in the most polluted counties compared to White mothers. This additional risk of residing in areas with poor air quality may exacerbate health problems of infants and children already at increased risk for poor health.¹
• In California, Asians were significantly less likely to have been diagnosed with asthma than all racial/ethnic groups except Hispanics. Approximately 1 in 9 Asian children (11.2 percent) and 1 in 10 Asian adults (9.7 percent) had been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives in California.²
• Asians may have a genetic predisposition that lessens their risk of COPD regardless of their smoking habits. One article found that the prevalence of COPD in Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii smoking more than 20 cigarettes daily was 7.9 percent compared to 16.7 percent in a White-American group. COPD prevalence is also low in non rural China despite the fact that over a third of the population smokes.³
• Although Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders had the lowest case rates of AIDS (3.6 per 100,000) in 2005, AIDS prevalence in this group has increased 29 percent between 2001 and 2005, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for approximately 1 percent of all AIDS cases in the United States.⁴
• Influenza and pneumonia ranked as the sixth leading cause of death among Asian/Pacific Islanders overall and the fourth leading cause of death in those over 65.⁵
• Asians residing in the U.S. have a lower rate of SIDS than any other racial/ethnic group.  In 2003, 61 Asian and Pacific Islander babies died from SIDS in the United States, a mortality rate of 27.7 per 100,000.  SIDS rates for Asian/Pacific Islanders mothers were approximately half those for non-Hispanic White mothers. It is not known why Asian mothers and babies have a smaller risk of SIDS.⁶
• In 2005, 13.3 percent of Asian Americans smoked compared to 21.9 percent of non-Hispanic Whites, 21.5 percent of non-Hispanic Blacks, 32 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives and 16.2 percent of Hispanics.  Only 6.1 percent of Asian American females smoked, more than 50 percent less than the smoking rates in women of other racial /ethnic groups.⁷
• Asians accounted for 23 percent of all new TB cases in 2005; 2 percent of cases in the U.S.-born population and 40 percent of cases among foreign-born persons in the United States.  Of the top five birth countries of foreign-born patients with TB, three were in Asia.8
• Asians in the U.S. have the highest TB case rates among all racial/ethnic groups.  The TB case rate was 20 times greater in Asians (25.5 per 100,000) than in non-Hispanic Whites (1.3 per 100,000).
• For more information please review State of Lung Disease in Diverse Communities 2007 on our website at www.lungusa.org or call the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872).

Sources:

View current American Lung Association Research Awards Nationwide