Urbanisation, asthma and allergies

Urbanisation, asthma and allergies

Differences in asthma in urban and rural environments were first reported from Germany in 1965, followed by many reports of higher rates of asthma symptoms in urban than rural environments around the world including Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea. Authors have suggested that wealth, lifestyle, housing and urban environmental exposures may contribute to increasing asthma prevalence. In relati...

Animal Exposure, Asthma and Allergies

An estimated 62% of all United States households have one or more pet and more than 38% of households with pets have children under the age of 18 (Beck, 2010). Although the total number of pets in the United States does not seem to be increasing (AVMA, 2012), the relationship between people and their pets is intensifying, with pets increasingly occupying more territory in the home (Lockey, 2012...

The Microbiota and Allergies/Asthma

Two lines of evidence suggest that environmental changes are a major factor in the development of allergies: the increase in the incidence of allergic diseases over the past 20–30 years and the dichotomy in the rate of allergic disease between industrialized and developing countries. These observations have led researchers to propose the ‘‘hygiene hypothesis’’ for allergies and asthma. Simply s...

Carpet, Asthma and Allergies – Myth or Reality

Gesundheit! Patrick Holt smothers allergies and asthma

Despite a flood of research on the topic, rates of allergy and allergy-induced asthma continue to climb in most industrialized nations. Holt, a professor at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia, wants to reverse that trend. To accomplish this, he needs to know what triggers airborne allergy and asthma, starting at the moment babies draw their first breath. He's c...