Does UV Light Really Cause Asthma?

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions in the world today. A recent estimate put the total number of sufferers in the world today in the region of around 235 million people. Clearly that’s a lot of people and considering how deadly asthma has the potential to be, it’s rather worrying. The respiratory disease has a habit of affecting children much more than adults and most cases of asthmatic death occur in kids rather than adults.

Asthma isn’t a condition which kills often in the developed world but that doesn’t mean it never happens. It less developed countries which don’t have the money, technology or resources to provide sufferers with adequate supplies of the correct medications deaths occur much more often. It’s said that around 80% of global asthmatic deaths occur in the undeveloped world so clearly it’s a massive issue!

Recent evidence has suggested that those who live closer to the equator are much more at risk of contracting asthma, and the conditions it’s linked to, than those who don’t. Asthma is linked to eczema and hay fever and all three conditions tend to be heavily influenced by outside stimuli like pollen, dust or mould. Scientists are suggesting that exposure to certain levels of UV might be responsible for this higher level and as such they’re recommending more protection is given to children from a younger age. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of countries in that region of the world are of a lower GDP and as such they may not be able to afford to take these precautions. They’ll have no option but to expose their children to the damaging light.

Remember to speak to your doctor should you have any concerns. In general children should wear sun cream when exposed to higher levels of UV any way.

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