Asthma Research for All of the United States

Association between Green Space Structure and the Prevalence of Asthma: A Case Study of Toronto

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that can be caused by various factors, such as asthma-related genes, lifestyle, and air pollution, and it can result in adverse impacts on asthmatics' mental health and quality of life. Hence, asthma issues have been widely studied, mainly from demographic, socioeconomic, and genetic perspectives. Although it is becoming increasingly clear that asthma is likely influenced by green spaces, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear and inconsistent. Moreover, green space influences the prevalence of asthma concurrently in multiple ways, but most existing studies have explored only one pathway or a partial pathway, rather than the multi-pathways. Compared to greenness (measured by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, tree density, etc.), green space structure-which has the potential to impact the concentration of air pollution and microbial diversity-is still less investigated in studies on the influence of green space on asthma. Given this research gap, this research took Toronto, Canada, as a case study to explore the two pathways between green space structure and the prevalence of asthma based on controlling the related covariates. Using regression analysis, it was found that green space structure can protect those aged 0-19 years from a high risk of developing asthma, and this direct protective effect can be enhanced by high tree diversity. For adults, green space structure does not influence the prevalence of asthma unless moderated by tree diversity (a measurement of the richness and diversity of trees). However, this impact was not found in adult females. Moreover, the hypothesis that green space structure influences the prevalence of asthma by reducing air pollution was not confirmed in this study, which can be attributed to a variety of causes.

Resolving the etiology of atopic disorders by using genetic analysis of racial ancestry

Atopic dermatitis (AD), food allergy, allergic rhinitis, and asthma are common atopic disorders of complex etiology. The frequently observed atopic march from early AD to asthma, allergic rhinitis, or both later in life and the extensive comorbidity of atopic disorders suggest common causal mechanisms in addition to distinct ones. Indeed, both disease-specific and shared genomic regions exist for atopic disorders. Their prevalence also varies among races; for example, AD and asthma have a higher prevalence in African Americans when compared with European Americans. Whether this disparity stems from true genetic or race-specific environmental risk factors or both is unknown. Thus far, the majority of the genetic studies on atopic diseases have used populations of European ancestry, limiting their generalizability. Large-cohort initiatives and new analytic methods, such as admixture mapping, are currently being used to address this knowledge gap. Here we discuss the unique and shared genetic risk factors for atopic disorders in the context of ancestry variations and the promise of high-throughput "-omics"-based systems biology approach in providing greater insight to deconstruct their genetic and nongenetic etiologies. Future research will also focus on deep phenotyping and genotyping of diverse racial ancestry, gene-environment, and gene-gene interactions.

The effect of parental social support and acculturation on childhood asthma control

OBJECTIVE

There exists large ethnic disparities in asthma among Latino children; Puerto Ricans (PRs) are disproportionately affected, while Mexicans have the lowest prevalence and morbidity. Disparities are poorly understood, however, acculturation and social support are suggested to influence asthma control among children. This study investigated the relationship between acculturation, social support and asthma control among PR and Mexican children and their caregivers.

METHODS

Primary caregiver-child dyads (n = 267) of PR (n = 79) and Mexican (n = 188) descent were recruited from clinics at two inner-city hospitals in Bronx, NY and three clinics in Phoenix, AZ. Children were 5-12 years of age and had a confirmed asthma diagnosis. Dyads completed measures of social support, acculturation and asthma control; logistic regression was used for analysis.

RESULTS

Mexican children had better asthma control than PR children (p < 0.001). PR caregivers were more acculturated than Mexican caregivers (p < 0.05); however, acculturation did not predict control. Across Latino subgroups caregivers' total level of social support predicted better asthma control among children (p < 0.05), and support received from family and friends each independently predicted better control (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that social support reduces some of the burden associated with asthma management enabling caretakers to better control their children's asthma.