MIAMI, July 21 /PRNewswire/ — Understanding and
managing asthma is not always easy, especially without adequate
patient resources. That’s why Puerto Rican actress, author and
mother of two children with asthma, Dayanara Torres, has partnered with the
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) and Merck to launch
the Asma En Espanol initiative, a new Spanish asthma education web
resource to help patients learn more about asthma triggers and ways
to manage the disease. Joining Dayanara
Torres in this effort is Dr. Jaime
Alvarez, an allergist, immunologist and asthma expert based
in Miami, FL.
Asthma affects approximately 2.7 million Hispanic American
patients including 500,000 Hispanic American children in the United States. The disease also may
affect Puerto Ricans at a higher rate than other Hispanic groups in
America. In addition, Puerto Rican children experience a higher
prevalence of lifetime asthma diagnoses and recent asthma attacks
compared to non-Hispanic white and black children and Mexican
children.
“Asthma is quite prevalent in the Hispanic American community.
Yet, there are few resources in Spanish to help patients understand
their disease,” said Dr. Alvarez. “The Asma En Espanol initiative
provides tools that can help patients and parents of children with
asthma in our community understand and manage their disease.”
An important step to managing asthma is understanding the
disease and what can trigger an asthma attack. Understanding what
causes asthma can help patients achieve better asthma control. A
recent survey* of 202 Hispanic American asthma sufferers and 203
caregivers of children with asthma conducted by AAFA
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