Risk of asthma linked to neighborhood location

Fellow blogger Alisa Ulfert recently wrote about The American Lung Association's new report on the state of the air we breath, or more specifically the contaminants that can trigger asthma and other health problems. Now a new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic follows up with findings relating specific attributes of neighborhoods with increased asthma risk. Living in a neighborhood that faces a major railway or highway intersection increases a child's risk of developing asthma by some 40 to 70% they found.

Researcher retrospectively examined nearly 4,000 people born between 1976 and 1979 in Rochester Minnesota, the Clinic's hometown. They found that the 2,000 people who's homes faced intersections had a 6.4% risk of developing asthma, while those living in homes facing elsewhere had a 4.5% risk.

There are of course numerous other asthma risk factors, including exposure to smoking, allergies, and genetics. Environmental pollutants from roadways are also a potent cause, as evidenced by this study. Previous research has linked proximity to highways with increased risk of developing heart disease. And those pollutants can also trigger acute health problems, such as heart attacks in people exercising near automobile fumes. These are all good reasons for urban planners to consider green barriers between transportation corridors and housing, and for people looking for housing to consider the location of the home they are choosing to rent or buy.  In addition to the health consequences, asthma continues to be a potent driver of health care cost increases as well. Apparently convenient proximity to a major roadway may have long lasting negative health benefits.

Photo credit: The author