title: Climate Change and Air Pollution: Effects on Respiratory Allergy.
abstract: A body of evidence suggests that major changes involving the atmosphere and the climate, including global warming induced by anthropogenic factors, have impact on the biosphere and human environment. Studies on the effects of climate change on respiratory allergy are still lacking and current knowledge is provided by epidemiological and experimental studies on the relationship between allergic respiratory diseases, asthma and environmental factors, such as meteorological variables, airborne allergens, and air pollution. Urbanization with its high levels of vehicle emissions, and a westernized lifestyle are linked to the rising frequency of respiratory allergic diseases and bronchial asthma observed over recent decades in most industrialized countries. However, it is not easy to evaluate the impact of climate changes and air pollution on the prevalence of asthma in the general population and on the timing of asthma exacerbations, although the global rise in asthma prevalence and severity could also be an effect of air pollution and climate change. Since airborne allergens and air pollutants are frequently increased contemporaneously in the atmosphere, an enhanced IgE-mediated response to aeroallergens and enhanced airway inflammation could account for the increasing frequency of respiratory allergy and asthma in atopic subjects in the last 5 decades. Pollen allergy is frequently used to study the relationship between air pollution and respiratory allergic diseases, such as rhinitis and bronchial asthma. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that urbanization, high levels of vehicle emissions, and westernized lifestyle are correlated with an increased frequency of respiratory allergy prevalently in people who live in urban areas in comparison with people living in rural areas. Climatic factors (temperature, wind speed, humidity, thunderstorms, etc.) can affect both components (biological and chemical) of this interaction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, Department of Chest Diseases High Speciality, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy. gdamatomail@gmail.com.|University "Federico II", Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Amato
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Department of Pediatrics, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ruby
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pawankar
authors.affiliation: First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.affiliation: First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.affiliation: First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Molino
authors.affiliation: First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stanziola
authors.affiliation: University "Federico II", Medical School, Naples, Italy.|Second Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanduzzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vatrella
authors.affiliation: First Division of Pneumology, High Speciality Hospital "V. Monaldi" and University "Federico II" Medical School, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Amato
keywords: Air pollution; airway hypersensitivity; asthma; climate change; pollen allergy; weather