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Why Asthma attack early morning!
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The
timing and magnitude of change in humidity and temperature, rather than the
direction, may be a more important influence on asthma
exacerbations!
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People
observe their asthma getting worse when the
weather changes are on to something, new research
suggests. Moms observe their asthmatic child get up with an attach all of
a sudden around 2 AM or 3 AM in the morning. Why?
Asthma
clinics found that pediatric emergency department
visits for asthma attacks jumped after increases -- or decreases -- in humidity,
while rises in temperature also sent more asthmatic kids to the Emergency Room.
"When
we ask patients what set off your asthma...they'll say it was the change in the
weather," Says an Asthma specialist. And while the National
Institutes of Health lists weather changes as a risk
factor for worsening of asthma symptoms,
he and his colleagues note in their report, no one has yet investigated whether
this is true, independent of known asthma aggravators like pollution and airborne
allergens. When the weather changes, the ambient temperature of the room
in which we sleep changes. So change in the temperature is a culprit
This
led some doctors to look at all pediatric emergency department visits to the Children's
Hospital
of
Michigan
in
Detroit
for treatment of asthma flare ups over a two-year period, including 25,401
visits in all. There were 35 such visits, on average, every day.
The
researchers looked at day-to-day and within-day changes in temperature and
humidity, controlling for levels of several air
pollutants and for counts of seasonal allergens like pollen and mold.
They
found that for every 10 percent decrease in relative
humidity from one day to the next, there were about 1.3 additional visits
for asthma attacks two days later. And for every 10 percent increase in humidity
within a single day, there were 1.1 more visits two days later. On the day
following a temperature jump, there were 1.8
additional visits for every 10-degree Fahrenheit increase.
"The
timing and magnitude of change in humidity and temperature, rather than the
direction, may be a more important influence on asthma
exacerbations," the researchers write in the Annals of Allergy,
Asthma and Immunology.
It's
not clear why changes in humidity and temperature might lead to asthma
exacerbations, although these shifts may aggravate the inflammation in the
airways of the lungs that is a hallmark of asthma.
Let
us see a temperature change pattern during night in
Detroit
. There are periods of fall or raise in the temperature in a day as usual.
Doctors have observed whenever there is a change in temperature for a long
period there is a possibility of an attack. This pattern will be similar in all
cities.
Article
continues below....
No matter what the mechanism involved, doctor added, people with asthma
should pay particularly close attention to their symptoms if they notice changes
in temperature and humidity, and use their peak flow
monitor, if they have one, to check their lung function regularly.
"Catching
asthma early can prevent the attack from worsening and can at times prevent a
trip to the emergency department," the doctor said.
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