The prevalence of allergic airway diseases such as asthma and rhinitis has increased
dramatically to epidemic proportions worldwide. Besides air pollution from industry derived …

Smoking is a central factor in many pathological conditions. Its role in neoplasm, lung and
cardiovascular diseases has been well established for years. However it is less …

Methods This paper arose from an extensive literature review undertaken in developing the
Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study, a multicentre national …

Background: The prevalence of childhood asthma in the USA increased by 50% from 1980
to 2000, with especially high prevalence in poor urban communities. Methods: Data on the …

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin diseases in infancy
and childhood, 1 and often manifests variable disease course among individual patients. It …

The developing lung is highly susceptible to damage from exposure to environmental
toxicants particularly due to the protracted maturation of the respiratory system, extending …

Background Asthma is a complex disease characterized by symptoms of wheezing,
shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough. Objective To study the relative contribution …

Occupational and environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has
been suggested to provoke inflammatory and/or allergic disorders, including asthma, rhinitis …

BACKGROUND: Both active and passive smoking are considered to be risk factors for
asthma development. However, the precise mechanisms involved remain elusive. Recently …

Background Low birth weight is strongly correlated with an increased risk of adult diseases.
Additionally, low birth weight might be a risk factor for asthma later in life. Methods A …