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Asthma Rate Rising Sharply in U.S.

By on May 14, 2011 in News 4
Peak flow meters used to measure one's maximum speed of expiration.

Peak flow meters used to measure expiration speed.

Roni Caryn Rabin writes in the New York Times:

Americans are suffering from asthma in record numbers, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one in 10 children and almost one in 12 Americans of all ages now has asthma, government researchers said.

According to the report, from 2001 to 2009 the prevalence of asthma increased among all demographic groups studied, including men, women, whites, blacks and Hispanics. Black children are most acutely affected: the study found that 17 percent of black children — nearly one in five — had a diagnosis of asthma in 2009, up from 11.4 percent, or about one in nine, in 2001.

While officials at the Centers for Disease Control emphasized that asthma could be controlled if managed effectively, they were at a loss to explain why it had become more widespread even as important triggers like cigarette smoking had become less common.

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Burger Diet Boosts Kids’ Asthma Risk

By on June 3, 2010 in News 6

hamburgerFrom Physorg.com:

Eating three or more burgers a week may boost a child’s risk of asthma and wheeze – at least in developed nations – reveals a large international study, published in Thorax today.

Conversely, a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, and fish seems to stave off the risk, the research shows.

The research team base their findings on data collected between 1995 and 2005 on 50,000 children between the ages of 8 and 12 from 20 rich and poor countries around the world.

Their parents were asked about their children’s normal diet and whether they had ever been diagnosed with asthma and/or have had wheeze.

Just under 30,000 of the children were tested for allergic reactions, to see if diet also influenced their chances of developing allergies.

Diet did not seem to be associated with becoming sensitised to common allergens, such as grass and tree pollen. But it did seem to influence the prevalence of asthma and wheeze.

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