House Dust Yields Clue to Asthma: Roaches

[lsanderson]

REACTION In Dr. Daniel G. Remick's study, mice had asthma attacks when exposed to a protein from roaches, whose exoskeletons and droppings became airborne after death.
By ELISSA ELY, M.D
Published: April 6, 2009

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, one that strikes the poor disproportionately. Up to one-third of children living in inner-city public housing have allergic asthma, in which a specific allergen sets off a cascade of events that cause characteristic inflammation, airway constriction and wheezing. More