Asthma is more than merely a genetic problem, a new study suggests. Workplace elements also matter: Entertainment-industry workers such as artists, designers and photographers have an asthma risk five times greater than average workers, and farmers, forestry workers, teachers, truckers and health-sector employees face double the risk. The study, an analysis of a six-year national health survey, revealed that 3.7 percent of those surveyed had work-related asthma, and about 11.5 percent suffered from work-related wheezing.
Though the researchers can’t yet assume a causal relationship, there’s a “strong association,” said lead author Dr. Ahmed Arif, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock.
When extended to the population as a whole, the findings suggest that the elimination of workplace exposure would prevent 36.5 percent of asthma cases and 28.5 percent of wheezing, said Arif, who conducted the research while he was a doctoral student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
The study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, also found that individuals with allergies were most at risk of work-related symptoms, and allergies were reported most frequently in the 30-to-49 age group.
The authors of the study speculate that the increased risk in the entertainment sector may reflect exposure to various chemicals used in art media, photography, stage scenery and theatrical makeup.
