There are various risk factors that contribute to your likelihood of having asthma. Factors such as your weight and the environment that you are living in can contribute to your wellbeing, but what recent research has revealed is that a combination of the two above factors may be the biggest overall threat to wellness when it comes to those who suffer from asthma.
The study has found that asthmatic children who are overweight are more susceptible to the effects of indoor air pollution than children who are a normal weight and asthmatic.
Carried out at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, the study looked at 148 children who were aged between 5 and 17 and suffering from persistent asthma. Researchers looked at the link between childhood weight and the effects of exposure to indoor nitrogen dioxide.
All of the children studied lived in cities and had a minority ethnic origin (91 percent of those studied, in fact, were Africa American). Looking at the group studied, it was ascertained that four percent of the children in the study were underweight, 52 percent were in a normal weight range, 16 percent were categorised as overweight and 28 percent were obese.
Researchers tested the levels of NO2 and PM2 in the air in the bedrooms of these children and monitored their asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and also night waking that occurred as a result of asthma symptoms.
As a result, it was found that children who were in the overweight or obese categories had more symptoms of asthma when exposed to high levels of toxins than the children who were of a normal weight, leading to the conclusion that increased weight makes asthmatics more susceptible to these toxins.