Asthma from mold

Molds in the air increase the risk of asthma in children

05/08/2011

The mold fungi can bring significant health risks has long been known. In particular, the sensitive airways of infants and toddlers are particularly susceptible to exposure to respiratory air with fungal spores. This threatens serious health problems that may accompany the affected persons throughout their lives.

American scientists have now demonstrated in a long-term study that infant fungal exposure is associated with a significantly increased risk of asthma. An increased number of fungal spores in the air of infants have led to their being twice as likely to suffer from asthma in later childhood as their peers, write the researchers to Tiina Reponen of the University of Cincinnati in the current issue of the journal „Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology“. Thus, the US scientists confirm the long-standing suspicion that mold contamination of the respiratory air in infants significantly increase the long-term risk of disease.

Increased allergy and asthma risk from mold
The spores of mold have long been suspected to increase the risk of allergies. The US scientists have now succeeded in proving that children in infancy are particularly sensitive to a spore load of respiratory air. „Being exposed to mold early in life seems to play a crucial role in the onset of childhood childhood asthma“, Tiina Reponen and colleagues explained. The scientists had measured the mold contamination in their home in a total of 176 children at high risk of allergies and asthma at one and seven years of age. In addition, parents were asked for other symptoms of respiratory ailments and other potential risk factors for children's disease development. When investigating the study participants at the age of seven years, the researchers also recorded the signs of allergies and asthma, since at the earliest from this age can be a safe asthma diagnosis. The result: At the age of seven, around 18 percent of the children examined suffered from asthma. The genetic predisposition has played a crucial role in the development of asthma, the US researchers report. According to the scientists, the highest risk of asthma was inflicted on children whose parents already had allergies or asthma.

Infants particularly susceptible to mold spores
However, the mold pollution of the breathing air has a significant influence on the risk of asthma. For example, the likelihood of childhood asthma in infants infected with mold in their infancy was about twice that of children from unencumbered families. By the age of seven, however, respondents were much less sensitive to mold and showed no particular health problems when living in mold-infested households, according to US researchers. The results of the study suggest that contact with mold spores is urgently to be minimized, especially in infants and / or infants. Especially in this early phase of life, the spore burden of breathing air can bring particularly negative long-term consequences for the health of adolescents, explained Tiina Reponen and colleagues.

Air conditioning reduces the risk of asthma
In their study, the researchers also investigated a possible link between adolescent passive smoking and individual asthma risk. The US scientists found that in terms of time from the passive smoking outgoing health problems are just the opposite, as in the mold fungus load. While infants showed little adverse health effects from passive smoking according to the US scientists, the risk of asthma in seven-year-olds increased significantly when they were smoking at home. Another interesting finding from the US study was that in households with air conditioning both infants and seven-year-olds appear to have significantly less asthma. An air conditioner can significantly reduce the risk of asthma, report the US scientists. (Fp)

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Manuel Bendig