Climate Change and Asthma: Global Warming Causing More Asthma Diagnoses, Study Says

According to the CDC, 25 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma. Could global warming cause that number to increase?
By Kimberly M. Aquilina k.aquilina@hngn.com | May 01, 2015 02:49 AM EDT
asthma
The study co-authored by Joel Kaufman notes a link between the decrease in auto emissions and the decrease in respiratory illness in children in southern California. (Photo : Google Commons)
The CDC reports that diagnoses of asthma have increased dramatically in the last few decades. Between 2001 and 2009, the number of asthmatics in the United States jumped by 4.3 million. Asthma is the leading cause of absences from school.
Air pollution and other allergens like pollen can cause an asthmatic flare-up. Could climate change exacerbate the problem?
"Plants are starting their pollination season earlier, and it lasts longer," said Alan Goldsobel, an allergist with the Allergy and Asthma Associates of Northern California, according to Scientific American. Changes in the climate are causing longer bloom seasons and revving up pollen production, so plants produce more pollen and release it for a longer duration.
Joel Kaufman, co-author of the study, "Association of Improved Air Quality with Lung Development in Children," investigated the effects of emissions from buses, cars and other motorized transportation on the health of the surrounding community.
Study authors wrote: "This study shows an association between secular improvements in air quality in southern California and measurable improvements in lung-function development in children." Air quality has improved in southern California, according to study authors, because of controls on tail pipe emissions.
"The changes we make to avert climate change not only have benefits for climate change, but they also have huge benefits on health," Kaufman said, according to Scientific American.
Asthma is defined by the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute as "a common chronic disorder of the airways that involves a complex interaction of airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and an underlying inflammation." Bronchioles in the lungs become inflamed, causing the bronchial tubes to swell and constrict. The production of mucus causes the individual to cough, wheeze and feel like they can't breathe. Asthma is a life-threatening illness.

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