For release: 2/18/99
WHY INFANTS WHEEZE
Diminished airway function in infants tested between one and three months is an important predictor of subsequent wheezing before the child's first birthday. British researchers tested the airways of 101 babies. Of this group, 28 with impaired airway function were later diagnosed with wheezing before age 12 months. The investigators noted that if the child's airway diameter was small for any reason, then further narrowing from viral infection, airborne allergens, or breathing tobacco smoke increased the likelihood of wheezing. The study appears in the February issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
LARGE LONG-TERM STUDY ASSOCIATES POLLUTANTS AND DEATH RISK
A special 15-year study of 6,338 non-smoking California Seventh-Day Adventists living and working in the three major California air basins showed that inhaling concentrations of the tiniest of pollutant particles is associated with greater risk of death from lung cancer and from natural causes in males, and from non-malignant respiratory illness in men and women. The researchers also discovered that long-term breathing of concentrations of ozone was strongly associated with death from lung cancer in males and that sulfur dioxide was independently associated with increased risk of lung cancer death in men and women. The study was published in the February American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
THE RIDDLE OF NITROGEN DIOXIDE EXPOSURE
Swedish researchers showed that a single four-hour exposure to small amounts of nitrogen dioxide given to 12 non-smoking healthy young volunteers caused a pronounced reduction in lung function, but three more such exposures over consecutive days reduced most of the harmful effects of the first day. Nitrogen dioxide is a common pollutant in homes with gas stoves and in some industrial workplaces. Research has shown that nitrogen dioxide exposure leads to increased susceptibility to airway infection. In this study, the investigators noted that although repeated exposure seemed to reduce the effects of nitrogen dioxide in the lung, it did not eliminate its impact. The research appears in the February issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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