Air pollution, limited green spaces are increasing risk of asthma: Study

The combination of air pollution dense urban development and limited green spaces increases the risk of asthma in both children and adults according to a new studyImproving these can help prevent one in 10 cases of asthma a chronic respiratory condition characterised by inflammation and narrowing of the airways making breathing difficultPrevious studies have typically calculated the risk of one environmental factor at a time The new study combined several environmental factors and described how they together affect the risk of developing asthmaThis provided a better picture of environmental risks as life in a city usually involves exposure to several environmental risk factors at the same timeResearchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that 116 per cent of asthma cases could be explained by the combination of environmental factorsIn other words in a favourable environment approximately one in ten people with asthma would not have developed the diseaseThe combination of air pollution lack of green spaces and dense urban development was most relevant for the development of asthmaldquoThis finding is useful for politicians and others involved in urban planning The method makes it possible to identify risk areas in existing urban areas but it can also be used when planning future urban environmentsrdquo said Erik Meleacuten Professor at the Department of Clinical Research and EducationThe study covered nearly 350000 people of different ages from 14 cohorts in seven European countriesInformation on home addresses of each individual made it possible to link data on various environmental risks in the urban environment to individual peopleThe environmental exposures included were air pollution outdoor temperatures and the level of urban density The assessment was partly based on satellite images showing grey green or blue areas ie where there were buildings green spaces or waterDuring the study period nearly 7500 of the study participants developed asthma as children or adultsThe researchers next aim to examine blood samples from some of the study participants to identify their metabolome that is a composite picture of the bodys metabolism and breakdown productsThe purpose is to understand how external environmental factors affect the body which could provide a better understanding of how asthma developsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params