ASTHMA AND ALLERGY IN PREGNANCY

Forty to 60 million Americans suffer from chronic allergic disorders t hat may involve the chest (asthma), nose (allergic rhinitis), or skin (atopic dermatitis, urticaria, or angioedema). Nearly 20% of women of childbearing age suffer from one or more of these allergic diseases, a nd up to 4% are affected by asthma during pregnancy. Combined with dis orders that mimic allergies (i.e., nonallergic rhinitis, sinusitis, an d hereditary angioneurotic edema) and those entities in which definabl e allergies are uncommon (chronic urticaria), these illnesses represen t the most common group of chronic medical conditions antedating, asso ciated with, or complicating pregnancy.