Spirometry, the most common type of pulmonary function test (PFT), is used to evaluate worker respiratory health in medical surveillance programs and to screen workers for their ability to perform certain tasks. Spirometry results can play a central role in decisions about worker job assignments and personal protective equipment, and in the assessment of…
Newcastle researchers say they have found a link between asthma and oestrogen in young obese women. The Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Hayley Scott says oestrogen stimulates leptin, a hormone that regulates hunger, but also promotes airway inflammation. A study of 130 people found younger females tended to show a more hormone-related pattern…
More than 25 million American children, adolescents and adults currently have a diagnosis of asthma. Previously it was thought that underlying allergies were only prevalent in children with allergies. In fact, almost 80 percent of children with asthma have underlying allergies, so perhaps that was not necessarily the case with adults with…
Fourteen percent of chronic childhood asthma could be due to exposure to traffic pollution, a study of 10 European cities has found. The new study suggests that air quality can trigger the breathing disorder as much as being around someone else who is smoking, which the World Health Organization has linked to 4…
Asthma is now said to affect nearly 25 million people in the U.S. alone (that’s one in eight individuals), 300 million worldwide. It continues to increase annually. An estimated $48.6 billion are spent in medical bills, $6 billion in prescription drugs, and who knows how much in alternative treatments – practitioner-based or supplement-based. It has…
The sudden onset of an asthma attack can be a frightening event. Asthmatics often experience a severe shortness of breath combined with coughing or wheezing and a tightening sensation in their lungs and chest. If you suffer from asthma, there is a chronic state of inflammation in your lungs. When this inflammation is paired…
Children exposed to the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, may be at an increased risk for asthma, a new study suggests. During the study, kids who had greater exposure to BPA at ages 3, 5 and 7 were more likely to be diagnosed with asthma before age 12 than children who had less exposure….
Vitamin D has effects on the innate and adaptive immune system. In asthmatic children low vitamin D levels are associated with poor asthma control, reduced lung function, increased medication intake, and exacerbations. Little is known about vitamin D in adult asthma patients or its association with asthma severity and control. For more about this, read…