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Article: Air pollutants alone may cause asthma attacks.
- Article from:
- Health & Medicine Week
- Article date:
- December 1, 2003
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2003 DEC 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have shown for the first time that diesel exhaust particles alone may be enough to induce acute asthma attacks.
A new testing method used in an animal model helped researchers better isolate the effect of diesel exhaust particles, a component of air pollution, on asthma.
"Previously, we thought that air pollution alone was not enough to incite acute asthma attacks, but [that an attack] also required the presence of allergens such as pollen or house dust mites to establish airway inflammation and allergic responses in the airways," said Dr. Andre Nel, the ...