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There is no place free from asthma triggers, and some cities are more challenging places to live than others. This year, Richmond, VA has been named the top "Asthma Capital" in our annual ranking of the 100 most challenging places to live with asthma.
The South Rises
Up from number fourteen in 2009, Richmond has been ranked as the No. 1 Asthma Capital due to a number of factors including a higher than average pollen score, continued poor air quality, a lack of “100% smoke-free” laws and others. In fact, 13 cities in the top 25 of this year’s rankings are located in the south. The poor ranking of southern cities this year is due in large part to the slow adoption of “100% smoke-free” laws in southern tobacco-producing states and cities. The good news this year is that, for the first time in 8 years of these rankings, every state has now passed a law protecting the rights of students to carry their asthma inhalers in school. See the full report below.
Don't Move - Improve
More than 20 million children and adults live with asthma all over the U.S., making it one of the most common and costly diseases. Experts agree that people can't move away from their asthma since every city in America has a variety of risk factors. Instead, people should work with an asthma specialist to have a good asthma management plan no matter where the live.
Top Asthma Capitals for 2010 
1. Richmond,VA
2. St. Louis, MO
3. Chattanooga, TN
4. Knoxville, TN
5. Milwaukee, WI
6. Memphis, TN
7. Tulsa, OK
8. Philadelphia, PA
9. Augusta, GA
10. Atlanta, GA
The Asthma Capitals is an annual research project to call attention to the asthma epidemic and to advocate for changes in each city to improve the quality of life for people with asthma. Rankings are based on analysis of 12 factors in three groups:
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Prevalence Factors – morbidity and mortality statistics
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Risk Factors – air quality, pollen, "100% smoke-free" laws, poverty and more
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Medical Factors – medication usage and access to specialists
Click on the links below for more information about asthma, the 2010 detailed city rankings and more.
To speak with a member of AAFA's External Affairs staff about the research and rankings, call toll-free 1-800-7-ASTHMA or write to angel@aafa.org.
Special thanks to our research partner Pollen.com a division of Surveillance Data Inc.
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