Eating fast food and sugary sodas can make inhalers ineffective, warn Australian scientists from the Center for Asthma and Respiratory Diseases at Newcastle University. The results of the study worried scientists because asthmatics tend to eat a diet high in saturated fat and sugar.
Researchers have found that exposure to fatty acids has a negative effect on the transport of drugs across the cell membrane. The scientists examined the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) to assess the inflammatory potential of individual diets. Foods that contain flour and sugar tend to have high levels of DII (bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, fruit juice, etc.) They then compared DII in asthmatics and healthy people to find a link between asthma and nutrition. According to the results obtained, the DII index was higher in people suffering from asthma. For every unit increase in this index, the risk of asthma increased by 62%. The DII index is associated with decreased lung function and increased systemic inflammation.
Thus, asthmatics who eat unhealthy foods put themselves at risk, as their diet may interfere with the relaxation of the airways. In light of this, experts recommend that people with asthma eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Asthma from passive smoking
The ban on smoking in public places has paid off. Such a restriction has led to improved health of children in Europe and the United States, the results of the study show. Its authors summarized data from 11 studies that took place in the above countries in the period 2008-2013. and studied the impact of legal restrictions on smoking areas on fertility rates and child health. It turned out that this measure is associated with a decrease in the frequency of preterm birth and the incidence of asthma in children by more than 10%. The results of the work were published in The Lancet . According to the researchers, these figures should encourage the introduction of a ban on smoking in public places in countries where this law does not yet exist. According to WHO, about 40% of children in the world suffer from passive smoking.
Commentary: Well, in Russia you often see mothers with prams standing next to their children and “tarrying” like a steam locomotive. And sometimes they still gather in heaps and stone their unfortunate babies. And then – a few years later – they shed tears and lament, where did asthma come from in a child? But from there!