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Allergies in Young Children: Effects of Exposure to Multiple Air Pollutants During Prenatal and Early Life
By Roberta Attanasio The frequency of allergies in children keeps rising rapidly worldwide, but it’s not clear why. However, it is acknowledged that developing even one type of allergy early in life is almost like turning on a switch—it can start children on a path to more. “The progression of skin allergies to asthma and allergic rhinitis is called the allergic or atopic march. Atopic dermatitis is an itchy, inflammatory skin allergy that, before 1960, affected fewer than 3% of children; by the 2000s it had increased to around 20%. A child with atopic dermatitis is more likely to develop other allergic conditions or symptoms. For example, about 70% of…
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Childhood Asthma and Traffic-Related Air Pollution
By Roberta Attanasio “I explain it to people like you are breathing through a coffee stirrer straw, and you just can’t get enough breath. The attacks can happen so quickly and out of nowhere, so I feel like I’m really not in control of my own body. Not being able to breathe in and out the way my body is designed to do is quite scary” says one of the 19 million adults who currently have asthma in the US. Asthma is a chronic disorder that causes swelling and inflammation in the lungs—the airways narrow and produce extra mucus, making breathing difficult and causing coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing,…
