Studies have shown that over 25 million children and adults in America are diagnosed with asthma. Although it has previously been thought that underlying allergies were only the cause of asthma in children, it is now believed that many adults may also be suffering from allergies that are at the root of their asthma.
In childhood asthma, almost 80 percent of the cases are thought to be caused by underlying allergies, but it has always been believed that adults’ wellbeing is not at risk in the same way. A new study that has just been published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology has revealed that this is not the case, and that the wellness of adults with asthma may be directly related to allergies.
The study showed that around 75 percent of asthma suffers in the 20 to 40 age bracket have a least one confirmed type of allergy, and this is also the case for the 55 and over age bracket, where around 65 percent of adults have one or more confirmed allergies.
Interestingly, older asthmatics are more likely to suffer from an indoor allergy such as dust mites (36 percent) followed by an allergy to cats (27 percent) and dogs slightly below that at (24 percent). Cockroaches were the least common type of allergy at just 11 percent.
This is different to the younger patients who are most likely to be affected to dogs and to mites commonly found in house dust.
Asthmas is often under diagnosed in adults, as the causes of it amongst older members of the population have often been unknown. This latest study highlights the importance of looking for allergies as a trigger for any kind of respiratory problems in older patients.
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