The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma
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Multicenter Study
Influence of season and temperature on the relationship of elemental carbon air pollution to pediatric asthma emergency room visits.
Previous studies have demonstrated an association between air pollution and asthma exacerbation. Less understood is the effect of elemental carbon (EC), and the interaction of EC with temperature, on increases in pediatric asthma emergency department visits and how these relationships change across the seasons in a metropolitan area with several industries and relatively low air pollution. Measurements of EC, ozone (O(3)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and total oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)) were available from the St. ⋯ During the winter, a 0.10 microg/m(3) increase in EC resulted in 2.80% increase in asthma ED visits among 11-17-year-olds (95%CI = 1.01,1.05) at the median seasonal temperature (43.3 degrees F). This risk increased with decreasing temperature. Among 11-17-year-olds, daily number of asthma ED visits is associated with increased levels of EC at higher temperatures in the summer and lower temperatures in the winter.
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It remains controversial whether environmental tobacco smoke increases the risk of allergic diseases. The present prospective cohort study examined whether in utero exposure to maternal smoking and postnatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke were associated with the development of wheeze, asthma, and atopic eczema in Japanese infants. ⋯ Our findings suggest that postnatal maternal smoking might be associated with an increased risk of wheeze in Japanese infants.
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Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by airflow limitation and airway hyperresponsiveness. Lung density indices on quantitative computed tomography (QCT) are assumed to reflect the degree of air trapping originated from airflow limitation in airway diseases. ⋯ These results suggest that lung density indices on QCT may be useful for clinical evaluation of asthmatic patients and increased LAA% in the expiratory phase is associated with airflow limitation and airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma.
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Asthma is a disease of air flow obstruction. Transmitted sounds can be analyzed in detail and may shed light upon the physiology of asthma and how it changes over time. The goals of this study were to use a computerized analytic acoustic tool to evaluate respiratory sound patterns in asthmatic patients during acute attacks and after clinical improvement and to compare asthmatic profiles with those of normal individuals. ⋯ Respiratory sound analysis demonstrated significant asynchrony between right and left lungs in asthma exacerbations, a finding which, to our knowledge, has never been reported to date. The asynchrony is significantly reduced with clinical improvement following treatment.
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Asthma that is chronic may influence children's behavioral health and quality of life (QoL) negatively. ⋯ Increased rates of attention deficit symptoms in children with asthma, as reported by mothers, might reflect the negative impact of asthma on neurobehavioral health. Asthmatic children, especially the ones who display attention deficit symptoms, must be considered for further evaluation regarding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.