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October 29, 2006

Truck Fumes Linked to Asthma

A new study at New York University has found that truck fumes may be responsible for the high asthma hospitalization rate for kids in the South Bronx.

... only 5 percent to 10 percent of the fine particle pollution was soot from diesel exhaust, but it was that portion that seemed to be having the worst effect on the children's asthma. He said their symptoms, like wheezing, doubled on days when pollution from truck traffic was highest.

Study links truck fumes with asthma

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August 4, 2006

Asthma Inhalers Need to Have Dose Counters

A new report underscores the need for asthma sufferers to have a way of knowing if their inhalers should be replaced or not. Some patients have found themselves without medication during an asthma attack and have had to call 911.

Because asthma inhalers do not include dose counters, asthma sufferers may unknowingly run out of their rescue medication ... Without dose counters, patients are left to wonder whether their inhaler is "running on empty," writes Oppenheimer from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Asthma inhaler running out? Hard to tell

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July 19, 2006

Good Hygiene May Lead to Asthma and Allergies

Is good hygiene responsible for the skyrocketing rates of asthma and allergies in the Western world? Children these days aren't exposed to everyday germs like our ancestors were. Are we doing ourselves and our kids a disservice by keeping spotless homes and dousing and wiping everything with the slew of antibacterial products on the market today?

For decades, the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases in the Western world has been a scientific puzzle. As rates of asthma, hay fever and lupus have skyrocketed in industrial nations, the number of cases in less developed countries remains relatively low ... Many scientists have attributed this disparity to a seemingly unlikely cause—citizens of first-world countries are becoming too clean.

From Good Hygiene Comes Bad Allergies

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