ET ISSUE 2183 Thursday 17 May 2001

Why asthma is worse during stormy weather
By Nicole Martin

THE stormy weather sweeping Britain this month is likely to make life more difficult for asthma sufferers, a new study suggests.

A report published today by researchers from Sydney shows a link between thunderstorms and an increase in asthma attacks. In the light of these findings, patients were advised to be vigilant and increase their medication if necessary to offset the risks of an attack.

The research team studied hospital admission rates for asthma and airflow patterns during thunderstorms in south-eastern Australia between 1995 and 1998. They concluded that airflow patterns - not electrical activity, thunder or rain - were largely responsible for triggering asthma epidemics during periods of high pollen counts.

They blamed the epidemics on the flow of cold air during thunderstorms which sweeps up pollen particles and concentrates them in a narrow band of air close to ground level.

Writing in the journal Thorax, Dr Guy Marks, of the Institute of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Sydney, said: "Subjects allergic to pollen who are in the path of the thunderstorm outflow are likely to inhale air which is heavily loaded with pollen allergen and, consequently, to experience an airway asthmatic response."

The team found that a third of epidemics were preceded by a thunderstorm outflow, rising to half of all serious outbreaks during late spring and summer when pollen counts were highest.

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2001