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Climate Change Triggering Allergies, Says Expert

DUBAI - Climate change has affected the health of millions around the world including those who suffer from allergy and asthma, according to the World Allergy Organisation (WAO).

“There is growing scientific evidence that global climate change is linked to the dramatic rise in allergies and asthma worldwide,” says Professor Ruby Pawankar, treasurer of the WAO and chair of Middle East-Asia Allergy Asthma Immunology Congress (MEAAAIC) that is currently under way at the Intercontinental Hotel at Dubai
Festival City.

She says allergies affect, on average, one in eight people across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. “Studies have found that a higher level of carbon dioxide changes the growth of plants whose pollen triggers allergies,” she explains.

According to figures from the MEAAAIC 2003, at least 14.9 per cent children in the UAE suffer from allergic rhinitis, 13 per cent from asthma and 11 per cent from skin allergies.

The links between climate change, allergies and asthma are multilayered. Higher carbon dioxide levels - the result of human activity - are believed to warm the atmosphere, which in turn affects the geographic location and growing season of allergy-producing plants.

“Pollution can also trigger the onset of allergy,” she says. “Tobacco smoke and fuel emissions from cars and industries act as irritants,” she adds.

However, due to lack of regional data on pollution-related allergies, Prof Ruby predicts that prevalence of the disease is going to increase.

Allergy clinicians are seeing an epidemic of food allergies in developed countries. A reduction in breast-feeding by working mothers has led to an increase in exposure at an early age to foreign proteins such as those in cow’s milk, she adds.

Genetic modification of food can introduce an allergen into a previously safe food, rendering the food allergenic to those who are sensitised to the modifying protein.

“Climate change will simply alter flora and fauna everywhere, creating changes in the profile of local allergens and potentially lengthening pollen allergy seasons,” she says.

Better identification of triggers and risk factors, better public awareness, improved training of physicians and healthcare personnel, better access to essential drugs, implementation of environmental controls and implementation of preventive measures are key issues to survive this epidemic, she adds.

Latest in Pharmaceutical Technology at Exhibition

THE latest in pharmaceutical technology and trends will be on show at the three-day International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and Exhibition (DUPHAT 2009) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The event, which ends tomorrow, has over 300 international companies participating including Chinese companies which will exhibit for the first time.

DUPHAT is classified as a major exhibition specialised in the latest technical updates and is accredited by the Dubai Health Authority and many international scientific organisations that serve the industry.