When Air Quality Improves, So Do Kids' Asthma Symptoms

[HuckleB]

Source: Med Page Today

Declining levels of air pollution in Southern California were linked to reduced rates of asthma and other respiratory conditions in children, a small longitudinal study showed.

Reductions in ambient air pollution over the course of 20 years were associated with significant reductions in bronchitic symptoms among all children. A 47% decrease in levels of particulate matter was linked to a 32% reduction in the likelihood of bronchitic symptoms in 10-year-old children with asthma (OR 0.68, P=0.002) and a 21% (OR 0.79, P<0.001) reduction among 10-year-olds without asthma, reported Kiros Berhane, PhD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues.

Similar results were observed for nitrogen dioxide, as a 49% decrease in the air pollutant was associated with asthmatic children being 21% less likely (OR 0.79, P=0.007) and non-asthmatic children 16% less likely (OR 0.84, P<0.001) to develop bronchitic symptoms.

...

This was another finding linking reduced air pollution to improved child respiratory health from the Children's Health Study -- a study examining three cohorts (1993-2001, 1996-2004, and 2003-2012) in eight Southern California communities. A year ago, the study found that improvements in air quality were linked to increased lung capacity in children.

Read more: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Asthma/57334

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[sofa king]

1. Wow!

That's a powerful relationship between public policy and health.

[TygrBright]

2. Astonishing! Not... But glad they're putting the data out there. n/t

[Journeyman]

3. As a child in the early '60s, growing up in a beachside suburb of Los Angeles, I remember. . .

our lungs would burn and there was a deep, stabbing pain in our chests when the air was thick. We lived between the oil refineries of El Segundo and Carson, miles away from each refinery, but the acrid taste of sulfur and who-knows-what-all chemicals and other garbage in the air was a very palpable presence throughout my youth.

The AQMD began doing something about it in the early '70s, and in the decades since there's been a steady improvement.

Remarkably, we don't have to wait these days for Santana Winds to clear the sky so we can see the local mountains. They're visible now most days.

It doesn't surprise me that there's been an improvement in respiratory health. It was really bad here for a very long time.

I smoked cigarettes in the '70s and '80s, in part, I told people, "to filter the air."