Where you live and work can make a difference, too.
Occupational exposure to certain dusts and chemicals in the workplace can cause adults to develop asthma later in life.
Air pollution in urban spaces and smokingor exposure to secondhand smokecan irritate the lungs and trigger symptoms.
Zoe Hansen / Verywell
What are the main risk factors for asthma?
Dr. Khan: The biggest risk factor is probably your genetic predisposition.
Some of the smaller factors that are still pretty important are things like pollution levels and smoke exposure.
Dr. Khan:Occupational asthmais definitely a very real thing.
Sometimes we see this in bakers because flour can do it.
We see it in folks who are dealing with different enzymes or rubber-derived proteins.
We can see it in workers who are handling seafood, and those exposed to metals and chemical substances.
We typically see occupational asthma in adults, and [it’s] its own sort of category.
We do see higher levels of pollution in more congested cities.
And with climate change, weve been seeing seasonal changes occurring sooner and lasting longer than we normally would.
What are the disparities in terms of who is at higher risk for developing asthma?
Dr. Khan: We do see more instances of severe uncontrolled asthma in lower socioeconomic status urban options.
Its multifactorialsometimes its whatever genes theyve inherited from their parents, but then also their environment.
Over the last couple of years, Ive been working in a private practice setting.
What are some of the systemic changes that must be made to reduce disparities in asthma risk?
But the system really isnt set up to promote that message, so it comes down to individual providers.
Im not very optimistic right now about where healthcare delivery is.
I think the pandemic highlighted a ton of dysfunction.
Dr. Khan: You cant really do anything about the genes that youve inherited.
If your mom or dad has asthma, youve got some genetics that are working against you.
But theres definitely an environmental punch in terms of when patients start manifesting symptoms.
American Lung Association.What causes asthma?
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.Asthma disparities in America.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Asthma and obesity.
