October 2000 • Post-Assembly Edition • Dallas
Satcher urges collaboration, action in fight against asthma
BY TERRY SELBY
"I don't have to tell you that asthma is an area in which we are struggling for answers," said Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. In the midst of a worldwide epidemic of asthma, the Academy is to be commended for its 2001 Annual Clinical Focus on Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Infections, said U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., at the Scientific Assembly Sept. 21.
ACF 2001, which kicked off at the Assembly, brings AAFP members state-of-the-art information on that subject area.
"I also thank you for your 2000 Annual Clinical Focus on mental health," Satcher said. "In July 1999, I issued the first-ever surgeon general's call to action on suicide prevention. And in December 1999, I issued the first-ever surgeon general's report on mental health. So the fact that you chose mental health as your focus for 2000 meant so much to me."
Satcher, an Academy member, also serves as assistant secretary for health. He discussed asthma in the context of Healthy People 2010, which he described as the nation's health plan for the next 10 years.
"I don't have to tell you that asthma is an area in which we are struggling for answers," he said.
He noted that over the past 15 years, the number of Americans afflicted with asthma has doubled. Since 1980, the number of children under age 5 years with asthma has tripled. Asthma today affects an estimated 4.4 million children in the United States, Satcher noted, and is the leading chronic disease causing hospitalizations in children.
"We don't really understand why this epidemic of asthma is happening," Satcher said. "Yet this is a disease, as you well know, that can be treated and controlled."
He added, "The most important role for those of us who are family physicians -- especially you who are on the front lines taking care of patients every day -- is to make sure patients are getting the kind of management that we know is effective. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute guidelines are key to this effective treatment and management."
See related story on page 10. Because the asthma epidemic is such a public health emergency, Satcher noted, Healthy People 2010 emphasizes the disease.
The leading health indicators for Healthy People 2010 are physical activity, overweight and obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, responsible sexual behavior, mental health, injury and violence, environmental quality, immunization and access to health care. These indicators should be our major focus for the next 10 years, Satcher said.
"You ask, 'What does this have to do with asthma?'" he said. "Actually, a lot. For example, we know that regular programs of physical activity can play a major role in the management of asthma."
And obesity in childhood also increases the risk of asthma, although we don't know why, Satcher said. "So you see that lifestyle indicators have a substantial impact on asthma."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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