Asthma rates increase in children, CDC says

• Asthma rates for children are on the rise, and Somerville seems to have some factors - like an old housing stock and proximity to highways - that would make the city's numbers skyrocket.
• A recent report of the state Department of Public Health found that the highest rates of children with asthma occurred in rural parts of Massachusetts.
• Somerville and other urban areas posted average or lower rates of asthma compared with state statistics.
• The causes of asthma are unknown, and people with knowledge of the disease call it "complicated."
• Asthma is a chronic disease among children that makes it difficult for them to breathe.
• The state report released last month found nearly 76,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade - or about one in 10 kids - had asthma during the 2003-2004 school year.
• That is an increase from the 73,600 students, about 9.2 percent, who had the disease the previous school year.
• Christine Henebury, who coordinates school nurse programs in all of Somerville's public and private schools, said the city had 429 asthmatic students in the 2004-2005 school year.
• According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma has become more common over recent decades, now affecting about 12 percent of adults under age 18.
• Dr. David Osler, a pediatrician with the Cambridge Health Alliance, said asthma is affected by "a combination of things," from smoking to pets to mold, dust mites and cockroaches.
• "The old housing stock clearly plays a role in the kids I see."
• Joshua Shukan, an 8-year-old patient of Osler's, has asthma but no family history of the disease (see story).
• Osler said asthmatics tend to feel better in newer homes with fewer allergens, and with bare floors without rugs.