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Asthma Study Results to Be Presented at Public Meeting in Englewood

By Wendell Hutson | September 29, 2014 6:18pm
 The Addressing Asthma in Englewood Project conducted a study on asthma.
The Addressing Asthma in Englewood Project conducted a study on asthma.
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Addressing Asthma in Englewood

ENGLEWOOD — The results of a study on asthma in Englewood, a neighborhood with high rates of residents who suffer from the disease, will be announced at a meeting this week.

The public meeting runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at Sikia, 740 W. 63rd St., a student-operated restaurant inside Kennedy-King College.

The Addressing Asthma in Englewood Project conducted the study and will also discuss asthma prevention ideas.

Englewood has long been known to have among the highest asthma rates in the city.

According to the nonprofit Merck Childhood Asthma Network in Washington, D.C., asthma-related hospitalizations in Englewood and West Englewood are among the highest in Chicago, at 60 percent and 71 percent of hospitalizations in the area, more than double Chicago’s average of 31.6 percent.

Joyce Edwards, 57, has lived in Englewood for 46 years and said she has seen healthy people like herself develop asthma.

"I have lived in Englewood for years and during that time I have been diagnosed with asthma even though I don't smoke or work around chemicals," Edwards said. "Now I have grandkids living with me and I am concerned about their health and them possibly getting asthma like me."

John Paul Jones, president of the nonprofit Sustainable Englewood Initiatives, said many residents have developed asthma, in part, as a result of pollution from exhaust caused by railroads passing through Englewood.

"Rarely do you see these kinds of environmental problems in more affluent communities," Jones said.

Light refreshments will be served and those planning to attend should RSVP by calling Jules Decker at 312-413-5317 or emailing her atjdecke2@uic.edu.

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