Study: A change in the weather can make asthma attacks more likely.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Many people suffering from severe asthma attacks say a change in weather triggers their attacks, and now there's a large study that seems to back up that statement. The new research is published in this month's Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. "We found a strong relationship between temperature and humidity fluctuations with pediatric asthma exacerbations, but not barometric pressure," said Nana A. Mireku, MD, an allergist at Dallas Allergy Immunology in Dallas, formerly at Children’s Hospital of Michigan-Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI. "To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates these correlations after controlling for levels of airborne pollutants and common aeroallergens."

THE DETAILS: A two-year study at a city hospital looked at nearly 25,500 emergency-room visits by children for asthma attacks. Researchers controlled for daily air pollution and airborne allergies that are known to trigger attacks, and found that a 10 percent daily increase in humidity one or two days before a given day was linked to an additional asthma-related emergency room visit on that day. Increases in childhood asthma cases in the emergency room were also noted when humidity changed two to three days before the attack. Nearly two additional visits for asthma issues occurred when there was a 10-degree increase in temperature the day or two before admission.