Air pollution is one of the biggest problems for asthma sufferers. The chronic condition, caused by inflammation of the airways, leads to difficulty in breathing, breathlessness, wheezing and excess mucus. Cases of the condition continue to rise worldwide, many of them caused and exacerbated by air pollution.
A French study suggests that when asthma sufferers are exposed to air pollution over a long period of time, the condition becomes harder to control. Asthma is a serious respiratory condition caused by inflammation of the airways, which affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is the leading chronic childhood illness.
The French research team examined the data of 481 adults with asthma who had originally taken part in the 1995-96 Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma and were then quizzed on their respiratory health in a follow-up between 2003 and 2007.
The study involved a calculation of how much nitrous oxide, ozone and particular matter each participant was exposed to in the home over the course of a single year, comparing those with the individual’s symptoms, number of asthma attacks and lung function in the same period.
Some 26% of participants were revealed to have uncontrolled asthma, with women and older people more likely to be in this group. The study concluded that long-term exposure to ozone brought an increased risk of 69% for uncontrolled asthma while the risk for exposure to particulate matter rose by 35%.
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