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Indoor and outdoor pollution and respiratory health
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes airways to tighten and narrow, causing difficulty in breathing. For the past 15 years, an epidemic of asthma has been occurring in the United States. Although asthma has become a major public health problem affecting Americans of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, children have been particularly severely affected. The epidemic is most severe among lower income and minority children. Physicians don't know the main cause of asthma, but they do know that the tendency to develop asthma is often inherited. All children with asthma have airways that are overly sensitive, or hyper-reactive, to certain asthma triggers . Things that trigger asthma attacks (also known as "episodes", "exacerbations" or "flares") differ from person to person. Some common triggers are exercise, allergies, viral infections, and smoke. The sensitive airway linings react to trigger exposure by becoming inflamed, swollen, and filled with mucus. The muscles lining the swollen airways tighten and constrict, making them even more narrowed and obstructed. These reactions, in turn, can cause coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. The symptoms, frequency, severity and duration of an asthma episode also vary from child to child.
| Common Asthma Triggers | |
Allergic House dust mites Mold or yeast spores Pollen Cat hair, saliva and urine Dog hair and saliva Cockroach particles Aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Metabisulfite, used as a preservative in many beverages and some foods |
Non-allergic Tobacco smoke Smog Natural gas, propane, or kerosene used as cooking fuel Wood smoke Coal smoke Gas, wood, coal, and kerosene heating units Paint fumes Viral respiratory infections Exercise Weather changes |
Source: American Medical Association
Asthma and the Environment
Over the past 15 years, there have been major advances in the scientific understanding of asthma. Asthma is now known to be a disease of airway inflammation resulting from a complex interplay between environmental exposures and genetic and other factors. Allergens in indoor air http://www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma.htmlsuch as house dust mites, cockroaches, mold and animal dander have been identified as the principal allergens that trigger asthma symptoms. Reducing exposure to these allergens has been shown not only to reduce asthma symptoms and the need for medication, but also to improve lung function. Irritants such as secondhand smoke http://www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma.htmlcan also trigger an asthma episode and possibly worsen the effects of allergens.
Children with asthma have long been recognized as particularly sensitive to outdoor air pollution. Many common outdoor air pollutants, such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter are respiratory irritants and can exacerbate asthma.
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