Friday, June 18, 2004

Why Thunderstorms Trigger Asthma ...when they are exposed to water, the pollen grains break up. And when this happens, each pollen granule releases as many as 700 starch particles. These particles contain the real allergen, and they're small enough to work their way deep into the lungs. 7:21:15 PM    comment []

Is Smoking A Big Factor in Asthma? As  teen smoking rates go down in the U.S., asthma rates continue to rise. This raises an interesting question: Many health experts are still baffled why asthma, which is made worse by smoking and passive smoking, is more prevalent in the USA than in countries such as France and Spain where smoking rates are much higher. Why is it that while smoking rates have fallen over the last 30 years in the USA, asthma rates have risen? Is it because we're using all those beta-agonists here in the U.S.?   2:27:07 PM    comment []

Asthmatics: Avoid Traffic Here's a local study from the city of Anchorage suggesting that children who live close to busy roadways are more likely to have asthma than children who live away from such roadways. 2:21:28 PM    comment []

The Risks of Beta-Agonist Overuse Lots of asthma sufferers don't think twice about using fast-acting inhalers for quick relief, but a new metastudy indicates the practice has risks, including diminishing effectiveness of the medicine and possible heart risks. The researchers on this new study say many older studies dismissing the problems are problematic because they lack in control groups and were sometimes funded by pharmaceutical companies with an interest in the outcome. 2:14:35 PM    comment []