4611 days ago
Researchers at Imperial College London analysed lifetime occupational histories for more than 9000 people born in Britain in 1958.
Adult onset asthma was associated with 18 occupations. Four were cleaning occupations and a further three occupations were likely to use cleaning agents. Others included farming, printing, metalwork, and textile production.
Risk factors included exposure to chemicals – such as cleaning and disinfecting products, metal fumes, and printing ink – as well as biological agents such as flour and enzymes.
This the conclusion of previous work that showed several job categories were associated with adult onset asthma.
4613 days ago
Phase 3 of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood looked at how food affects the risk of developing allergic diseases such as asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema.
The researchers found that children who ate fruit more than 3 times a week were less likely to suffer from severe asthma, while those who ate fast food more than 3 times a week had an increased risk of severe asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema.
The research did not address whether the food was a cause of the increased risk or merely an interesting correlation.
4624 days ago
British researchers found they could improve children’s asthma control by using drugs suited to their specific genome.
Long-acting β2 agonists are used as an alternative to increasing the dose of inhaled corticosteroids if a standard dose provides inadequate asthma control. However, LABAs are less effective in people with the Arg16 β2 receptor genotype, approximately 15% of the population.
The research found that children with the different gene who were given a LTRA instead of a LABA showed improved asthma control and missed fewer days of school.