Washington, September 15 (ANI): Changes in humidity and temperature may trigger asthma among kids, suggests a report.
Published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the report says that such weather changes have been found to result in a rise in Emergency Department (ED) visits for paediatric asthma exacerbations.
“We found a strong relationship between temperature and humidity fluctuations with pediatric asthma exacerbations, but not barometric pressure,” said Dr. Nana A. Mireku, an allergist at Dallas Allergy Immunology private practice in Dallas, formerly at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated these correlations after controlling for levels of airborne pollutants and common aeroallergens.
“Our study is also one of the few to examine the possibility that the weather one or two days before the asthma exacerbation may be as important as that on the day of admission, as the additional ED visits occur one to two days after the fluctuation,” she added.
The authors of the report write that patients experiencing an asthma attack often complain that weather fluctuations are a major trigger.
Dr. Mireku said: “the latest National Institutes of Health guidelines list ‘change in weather’ as a possible precipitating factor for asthma, but no previous studies have really examined this potential trigger in a rigorous fashion.”
According to the report, the retrospective 2-year study was performed at a large urban hospital of 25,401 children visiting the ED for an asthma exacerbation.
The researchers collected data on climactic factors, pollutants and aeroallergens on a daily basis.
They used time series analysis to evaluate the relationship of daily or between-day changes in climactic factors and asthma ED visits, controlling for seasonality, air pollution and aeroallergen exposure.
The effects of climactic factors were evaluated on the day of admission and up to five days before admission.
The researchers found that a 10 percent daily increase in humidity on a day or two before admission was associated with approximately one additional ED visit for asthma.
The authors write that between-day changes in humidity from two to three days prior to admission were also associated with more ED visits.
Daily changes in temperature on the day of or the day before admission increased ED visits, with a 10 degree F increase being association with 1.8 additional visits.
“Asthma is the most common chronic illness in childhood. Allergists have long known that weather conditions such as extremely dry, wet or windy weather can affect asthma symptoms. This study further defines the role of temperature and humidity on children’s asthma and confirms the importance of working with patients to identify the source of their symptoms and develop treatment plans that help prevent them,” said allergist Richard G. Gower, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). (ANI)
S and P Daily Commentary for 4.8.09
The S and P futures continued their selloff yesterday as well-regarded economists, including Dallas Fed’s Fisher, flooded the wires with negative outlooks concerning the health of the economy and solvency of banks. Although the present pullback has been brisk, it hasn’t been supported by high volume or U. S. economic data. Regardless, the selloff has taken the wind out of the rally’s sails.
The S and P futures went as far as to dip below our 1st tier trend line. However, investors will need very negative news on the earnings or data front to send the futures back below the critical 800 level.
That being said, the rally in the S and P futures has been disappointing by failing to eclipse our 3rd tier downtrend line and February highs. As a result, the futures are creating the possibility of a return to the devastating downtrend of the economic crisis. Focus will remain on corporate earnings until Thursday’s trade balance and unemployment claims release.
On a positive note, economic data releases are showing signs of improvement in Britain and the EU, adding to speculation that the economic crisis is subsiding. Conversely, Japan’s economy continues to unravel with no signs of a bottom.
Correlation wise, crude futures have crashed below our 1st tier uptrend line and the highly psychological $50/bbl. Since crude and equities have been tightly correlated, the deterioration taking place in the fundamentals of crude futures are a bit concerning. On the other hand, gold and the 30 Year T-Bond futures continue tier respective lines. Therefore, the S and P’s correlations are painting a mixed picture, highlighting the uncertainty prevalent in the markets right now.
Pushing the distortion aside, everybody’s asking the same question: `Is the economic crisis really over?’ While economic data points in the U. S., EU, and Britain are showing signs of stabilization, they could easily be a pop up on the way down.
Therefore, investors are on guard to see if the all around rally can materialize into something more than a bear market rally. Fundamentally, we find supports of 815, 809.25, 804.75, 799.75, and 794. To the topside, we see resistances of 821.5, 829.5, 834.75, 840.25, and 845.25. The S and P futures are currently trading at 816.50.
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