What Are the Risk Factors for an Asthma Attack?

Friday, July 10, 2009

Asthma Attack Risk Factors: Some Are Surprising, Others Are Not

A number of different asthma risk factors may increase your chances of developing an asthma attack. Some of the asthma risk factors are avoidable -- such as exposure to smoking and eating certain foods -- while others are not avoidable or modifiable, like family history. Finally, there are also a handful of protective asthma risk factors that decrease your risk of asthma.

Asthma attacks -- or any any acute change in asthma symptoms that interrupt a person's normal routine and require either extra medication or some other intervention to breathe normally again -- are more common among:

* Children 5 years of age and younger
* Adults in their 30s
* Adults over the age of 65

Additional asthma risk factors in both adults and children include:

* A family history of asthma
* A personal history of atopy
* A personal history of allergies
* Exposure to second-hand smoke
* Urban living, especially if there is significant air pollution
* Low levels of vitamin D
* Obesity
* Low birth weight
* Being born in the winter months
* Workplace exposures to chemicals or other substances that may lead to occupational asthma
* Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
* Sinusitis
* Antibiotic use in the first year of life
* Eating a lot of fast food
* Regular acetaminophen use

While there is nothing you can do about your age or family history, it is important to keep these above things in mind, along with maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding cigarette smoke.

On the other hand, the following things can actually reduce your risk of developing an asthma attack:

* Breastfeeding (lowers your baby's risk of developing asthma)
* Attendance at daycare
* Large family size
* Increased intake of fruits and vegetables
* Community resources such as economic development opportunities
* Eating omega-3 fatty acids found in fish

source:ashtma.about.com