HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Larsson, M.L. Articles by Larsson, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Larsson, M.L. Articles by Larsson, K.

From the Authors

¹ Dept of Lung Medicine, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, and ² The Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

From the authors:

The letter from R. Varraso, MP Oryszczyn and F.Kauffmann pays attention to important issues. First, the increased sensitivity of asthmatics to different airway triggers. With this in mind, one gains valuable insights into how asthma can affect quality of life, and how activities, like exercising and contacts with furred pets, for most people pleasant, can be triggers of breathlessness.

Such symptoms were considerably more prevalent among asthmatics in Estonia compared to the general population (not reported) and similar to the data of another FinEsS (Finland, Estonia and Sweden) study conducted in Örebro, Sweden 1. This study shows roughly 2–4 times higher prevalence of such "trigger-induced" airway symptoms among asthmatics. The study also showed, in a general population, that females more frequently reported cough, wheezing and shortness of breath following exposure to a variety of lower airway irritants, including tobacco smoke (no questions concerning nasal symptoms were included).

Finally we certainly agree that considering the capacity of such airway symptoms to affect quality of life, there is deficiency of knowledge, and more studies focusing on sex differences in airway behaviour are needed.

References

1. Larsson M, Frisk M, Hallström J, Kiviloog J, Lundbäck B. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure during childhood is associated with increased prevalence of asthma among adults. Chest 2001;120:711–717.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Larsson, M.L. Articles by Larsson, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Larsson, M.L. Articles by Larsson, K.