Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental risk factors and allergic bronchial asthma.
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TLDR
As concentrations of airborne allergens and air pollutants are frequently increased contemporaneously, an enhanced IgE‐mediated response to aeroallergens and enhanced airway inflammation could account for the increasing frequency of allergic respiratory allergy and bronchial asthma.Abstract:
The prevalence of allergic respiratory diseases such as bronchial asthma has increased in recent years, especially in industrialized countries. A change in the genetic predisposition is an unlikely cause of the increase in allergic diseases because genetic changes in a population require several generations. Consequently, this increase may be explained by changes in environmental factors, including indoor and outdoor air pollution. Over the past two decades, there has been increasing interest in studies of air pollution and its effects on human health. Although the role played by outdoor pollutants in allergic sensitization of the airways has yet to be clarified, a body of evidence suggests that urbanization, with its high levels of vehicle emissions, and a westernized lifestyle are linked to the rising frequency of respiratory allergic diseases observed in most industrialized countries, and there is considerable evidence that asthmatic persons are at increased risk of developing asthma exacerbations with exposure to ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and inhalable particulate matter. However, it is not easy to evaluate the impact of air pollution on the timing of asthma exacerbations and on the prevalence of asthma in general. As concentrations of airborne allergens and air pollutants are frequently increased contemporaneously, an enhanced IgE-mediated response to aeroallergens and enhanced airway inflammation could account for the increasing frequency of allergic respiratory allergy and bronchial asthma. Pollinosis is frequently used to study the interrelationship between air pollution and respiratory allergy. Climatic factors (temperature, wind speed, humidity, thunderstorms, etc) can affect both components (biological and chemical) of this interaction. By attaching to the surface of pollen grains and of plant-derived particles of paucimicronic size, pollutants could modify not only the morphology of these antigen-carrying agents but also their allergenic potential. In addition, by inducing airway inflammation, which increases airway permeability, pollutants overcome the mucosal barrier and could be able to "prime" allergen-induced responses. There are also observations that a thunderstorm occurring during pollen season can induce severe asthma attacks in pollinosis patients. After rupture by thunderstorm, pollen grains may release part of their cytoplasmic content, including inhalable, allergen-carrying paucimicronic particles.read more
Citations
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Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution – REVIHAAP Project. Technical Report. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present answers to 24 questions relevant to reviewing European policies on air pollution and to addressing health aspects of these policies, which were developed by a large group of scientists engaged in the WHO project REVIHAAP.
Journal ArticleDOI
Interactions between effects of environmental chemicals and natural stressors: A review
Martin Holmstrup,Anne-Mette Bindesbøl,Gertie Janneke Oostingh,Albert Duschl,Volker Scheil,Heinz-R. Köhler,Susana Loureiro,Amadeu M.V.M. Soares,Abel L.G. Ferreira,Cornelia Kienle,Almut Gerhardt,Ryszard Laskowski,Paulina Kramarz,Mark Bayley,Claus Svendsen,David J. Spurgeon +15 more
TL;DR: An evaluation of stressors covering heat, cold, desiccation, oxygen depletion, pathogens and immunomodulatory factors combined with a variety of environmental pollutants revealed that synergistic interactions between the effects of various natural stressors and toxicants are not uncommon phenomena.
Journal ArticleDOI
Diagnosis and treatment of asthma in childhood: a PRACTALL consensus report
Leonard B. Bacharier,A. L. Boner,K-H. Carlsen,Philippe Eigenmann,Thomas Frischer,M. Götz,Peter Joseph Benedict Helms,John F. Hunt,Andrew H. Liu,Nikolaos G. Papadopoulos,Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills,Petr Pohunek,F. E. R. Simons,Erkka Valovirta,Ulrich Wahn,J. Wildhaber +15 more
TL;DR: This consensus report recommends strategies that include pharmacological treatment, allergen and trigger avoidance and asthma education that are recommended for clinical practice in Europe as well as in North America.
Journal ArticleDOI
The health effects of nonindustrial indoor air pollution
Jonathan A. Bernstein,Neil E. Alexis,Hyacinth Bacchus,I. Leonard Bernstein,Pat Fritz,W. Elliott Horner,Ning Li,Stephany Mason,Andre E. Nel,John Oullette,Kari Reijula,T. Reponen,James M. Seltzer,Alisa M. Smith,Susan M. Tarlo +14 more
TL;DR: The allergist should be prepared to evaluate patient exposure to allergic and nonallergic triggers and understand how outdoor air pollution is affecting indoor environments by being familiar with methodologies for monitoring and interpreting indoor air quality and interpreting results in the context of the patients exposure history.
Journal ArticleDOI
Meteorological conditions, climate change, new emerging factors, and asthma and related allergic disorders. A statement of the World Allergy Organization
Gennaro D'Amato,Stephen T. Holgate,Ruby Pawankar,Dennis K. Ledford,Lorenzo Cecchi,Mona Al-Ahmad,Fatma Al-Enezi,Saleh Al-Muhsen,Ignacio J. Ansotegui,Carlos E. Baena-Cagnani,David J. Baker,Hasan Bayram,Karl Christian Bergmann,Louis-Philippe Boulet,Jeroen Buters,Maria D'Amato,Sofia Dorsano,Jeroen Douwes,Sarah Elise Finlay,Donata Garrasi,Maximiliano Gómez,Tari Haahtela,Rabih Halwani,Youssouf Hassani,Basam Mahboub,Guy B. Marks,Paola Michelozzi,Marcello Montagni,Carlos Nunes,Jay Jae-Won Oh,Todor A. Popov,Jay M. Portnoy,Erminia Ridolo,Nelson Rosario,Menachem Rottem,Mario Sánchez-Borges,Elopy Sibanda,Juan José Sienra-Monge,Carolina Vitale,Isabella Annesi-Maesano +39 more
TL;DR: Global warming is expected to affect the start, duration, and intensity of the pollen season, and the rate of asthma exacerbations due to air pollution, respiratory infections, and/or cold air inhalation, and other conditions on the other hand.
References
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TL;DR: The variation in the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic-eczema symptoms is striking between different centres throughout the world and will form the basis of further studies to investigate factors that potentially lead to these international patterns.
Journal ArticleDOI
Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema: ISAAC
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated worldwide prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic disorders in children, and found differences of between 20-fold and 60-fold between centres in the prevalence of symptoms of asthma.
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C A Pope rd,Michael J. Thun,M. M. Namboodiri,Douglas W. Dockery,John S. O. Evans,Frank E. Speizer,C. W. Heath +6 more
TL;DR: Increased mortality is associated with sulfate and fine particulate air pollution at levels commonly found in U.S. cities, although the increase in risk is not attributable to tobacco smoking, although other unmeasured correlates of pollution cannot be excluded with certainty.
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TL;DR: Fine particulate air pollution is a risk factor for cause-specific cardiovascular disease mortality via mechanisms that likely include pulmonary and systemic inflammation, accelerated atherosclerosis, and altered cardiac autonomic function.