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Prevention of asthma: where are we in the 21st century?
1The Manitoba Institute of Child Health, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada.
Insights
Asthma prevention requires multifaceted interventions targeting gene-environment interactions during pregnancy and early life. Understanding these factors offers insights into personalized asthma prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Environmental Health
- Genetic Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood asthma has reached epidemic proportions, driven by complex gene-environment interactions.
- A critical 'window of opportunity' exists during pregnancy and early life for environmental influences on asthma development.
- Asthma prevalence may signal increased population risk for other chronic non-communicable autoimmune diseases.
Observation:
- Multiple environmental, biologic, and sociologic factors are implicated in asthma development.
- Meta-analyses indicate that multifaceted interventions are necessary for effective asthma prevention.
- Studies on allergen reduction have demonstrated clinical benefits.
Findings:
- Asthma arises from a dysfunctional interplay between an individual's genes and their environment, particularly during fetal and early infant stages.
- Effective asthma prevention necessitates a comprehensive approach addressing various contributing factors.
- Early life environmental exposures significantly influence the trajectory of asthma development.
Implications:
- Further understanding of gene-environment interactions is crucial for developing personalized asthma prevention strategies.
- Multifaceted interventions, including allergen reduction, show promise in clinical settings.
- Research into asthma's developmental origins can inform broader public health strategies for chronic disease prevention.
Abstract:
Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood and, in the latter part of the 20th century, reached epidemic proportions. Asthma is generally believed to result from gene-environment interactions. There is consensus that a 'window of opportunity' exists during pregnancy and early in life when environmental factors may influence its development. We review multiple environmental, biologic and sociologic factors that may be important in the development of asthma. Meta-analyses of studies have demonstrated that multifaceted interventions are required in order to develop asthma prevention. Multifaceted allergen reduction studies have shown clinical benefits. Asthma represents a dysfunctional interaction with our genes and the environment to which they are exposed, especially in fetal and early infant life. The increasing prevalence of asthma also may be an indication of increased population risk for the development of other chronic non-communicable autoimmune diseases. This review will focus on the factors which may be important in the primary prevention of asthma. Better understanding of the complex gene-environment interactions involved in the development of asthma will provide insight into personalized interventions for asthma prevention.
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