Children with asthma: the fight against allergens and passive smoking is effective!
Fighting at home against allergens and passive smoking is bearing fruit. According to the results of a study conducted over two years, children with asthma have fewer symptoms and a gain of 34 days without wheezing.
The urban areas more exposed to indoor allergens and passive smoking. In return, the urban children with asthma suffer from significant complications.
Is it enough to fight at home against allergens to improve conditions for small asthmatics?
To answer this question, a study was conducted among 937 asthmatic children aged 5 to 11 years and residing in various U.S. cities. These young patients had been hospitalized at least once during the last six months or twice led the emergency room for their asthma and had a positive test to an allergen home.
Half of the parents of these children have received the knowledge necessary to fight against environmental factors, focusing on the profile of their child: mites, cockroaches, tobacco smoke, rodents, pets, etc.. They also received training and adequate equipment: waterproof coatings on the mattress and pillow, vacuum cleaner with a special filter, air purifier, etc..
Every six months, the allergens were collected and analyzed at home.
Meanwhile, the number of days with asthma symptoms was recorded: wheezing, coughing, disturbed sleep, reduced activity because of asthma.
Two years later, the authors found fewer days with symptoms in children living in an environment made less allergenic. Of a total of two years, there has been a gain of 34 days without wheezing. In parallel, the domicile of children whose parents have applied the anti-allergen were significantly healthier and reducing allergens was correlated with fewer complications of asthma.
These results demonstrate the effectiveness of measures Allergen avoidance and impact on symptoms of asthmatic children.