Understanding how air pollution may trigger asthma in children

Background

Childhood asthma is a common long-term lung condition. It happens when the airways become narrower and the lungs react strongly to triggers, which can make breathing difficult. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Asthma can affect daily life, school attendance and quality of life and children often need ongoing treatment.

Air pollution, especially very small particles in the air called PM2.5, is linked to asthma. PM2.5 is about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair and can travel deep into the lungs when inhaled. These tiny particles come from traffic, factories, wood smoke and other everyday sources and can stay in the air for long periods.

What did the study look at? 

This study looked at whether long-term exposure to PM2.5 can cause asthma in children, and used large health datasets to explore how pollution affects the body and may lead to the condition.

What do the results show?

The research found that breathing in PM2.5 increases the risk of developing childhood asthma. It also gave insight into how air pollution may affect the lungs and immune system:

• Certain proteins in the blood may influence how the body reacts to pollution. This may help explain why some children develop asthma while others do not.
  One protein may play a role in linking air pollution to asthma, suggesting a possible pathway between polluted air and the disease.
  Other proteins may help protect the lungs from some of the harmful effects of pollution.

These findings help explain how exposure to polluted air can trigger asthma in children.

Why is this important?

This study adds to evidence that air pollution does not only make asthma symptoms worse, but can also increase the risk of developing asthma in children. Understanding how pollution affects the body may help researchers develop better ways to prevent and treat asthma.

It also highlights the importance of reducing children’s exposure to polluted air at home, at school and in the wider environment to help protect their lung health.

Read the original research paper:  Multi-omics causal inference of childhood asthma triggered by ambient particulate matter