ABSTRACT
It is estimated that 9-12 million Americans currently have asthma and that the incidence has increased by about 60% in the past decade (1), not only in the United States but worldwide (2). Asthma was estimated to cost approximately $6.2 billion in 1990 (3), to be the number one cause for hospitalizations in pediatric hospitals nationwide, to be the sixth most common cause for all hospitalizations, and to cause nearly 5000 deaths per year (an increase of nearly 80% in the past decade).
