Breathe deep and celebrate World Asthma Day on Tuesday, May 4. It is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma. This day focuses on helping to improve asthma awareness and care around the world.

According to cdc.gov, “Asthma is a disease that affects the lungs. It is one of the most common long term diseases of children.” Adults can also get asthma. The effects of asthma include: wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing at night or early in the morning. If you have asthma, you have it all the time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers your lungs.

World Asthma Day is important to celebrate because it calls the attention to the health issue and the struggles of asthma sufferers. According to National Day Calendar, the goal of this day is to improve asthma awareness and care around the world.  According to the The World Health Organization (WHO), 300 million people suffer from asthma. It is a chronic disease of the airways that lead to the lungs.

Asthma is common among students like myself. I have had asthma since grade school and it has been a real struggle. I can’t run without losing my breath and getting tired. Sports can be difficult, too, but having asthma has not stopped me from living my life.

There are also many celebrities who have dealt with asthma, including David Beckham, DMX, Eminem, Harry Styles, and Bill Clinton. Historically, Charles Dickens, William III of England, and John F. Kennedy have also reportedly had asthma, according to Get Asthma Help.com.

This year’s theme for World Asthma Day is “Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions,” according to The Global Initiative for Asthma.  This theme provides a call to action to address common widely-held misconceptions concerning asthma preventions as well as concerning asthma that prevent people with asthma for enjoying the major advances in the management of this condition.