Cockroaches linked to asthma risk

[emad]

BBC

Cockroaches are worse than pets and dust mites for people with asthma, a study says.

Researchers found cockroach allergens played a "very important role" in exacerbating the symptoms of asthma in inner city children in the US.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center studied 937 children.

It found children missed more school days and visited the doctor more with asthma symptoms brought on by cockroach allergens than others.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4332151.stm

[jpgray]

1. Could this be related rather to urban centers and smog?

Did they account for that?

[HereSince1628]

2. Interesting but known for a long time...

I used cockroach colonies as the host population for my dissertation back in the mid 80's...I spent four years handling thousands and thousands of them.

All my fellow students thought I would emerge at the end as a veritable histamine based detector of blattids. Luckily I didn't.

[CatWoman]

3. When I was tested for allergies, I found out I was allergic to cockroaches

My allergist said a great number of the population is allergic to them.

It's not the roaches per se, but the dust and fumes their bodies emit when they decompose.

[ooglymoogly]

4. many lives ago when i was a builder i learned how to get rid of

cockroaches and have never been bothered with them since, wherever i have lived. if anybody has such a problem answer this post and i will tell you the very simple and definitive way to rid your house of cockroaches forever. now i need the remedy for riding the house of ants in the spring and summer.