Allergy gap between Finnish and Russian Karelia on increase

Laatikainen, Tiina; Hertzen, Leena von; Koskinen, Jyri-Pekka; Mäkelä, Mika; Jousilahti, Pekka; Kosunen, Timo U.; Vlasoff, Tiina; Ahlström, Matti; Vartiainen, Erkki; Haahtela, Tari

doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2010.02533.x

Cited by 69 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Almost all subjects (99.8%) were born before 1991, i.e. under Soviet conditions, and were, thus, exposed in their first years of life, and for a large majority throughout their childhood, to an environment and lifestyle likely to be protective against the development of allergic diseases in childhood and potentially later in life [9][10][11]13]. In studies conducted in children, wheezing was less associated with atopy in Estonia and in Russian Karelia compared with Sweden or Finland [9,33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in other eastern European countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union [9,10], a lower prevalence of atopy and asthma was observed in Estonia compared with western Europe in the 1990s [11,12]. The degree of westernisation, and associated environmental and lifestyle-related exposures [9][10][11]13] were suggested to explain these differences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The degree of westernisation, and associated environmental and lifestyle-related exposures [9][10][11]13] were suggested to explain these differences. However, by contrast with most other countries, the rate of asthma and allergy has remained low in Estonia [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occupational irritants and asthma: an Estonian cross-sectional study of 34 000 adults

et al. 2014

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Occupational exposures make important contributions to asthma morbidity. The role of low/ moderate level irritant exposures remains unclear. We aimed to determine which occupational exposures are associated with asthma in an eastern European country with low asthma prevalence.The Estonian Genome Center of University of Tartu collected data from 50 077 adults in 2002-2011. Asthma was assessed through a questionnaire regarding diagnosed diseases, current health status and medication. Exposures to 22 agents during the current and longest held jobs were estimated using an asthma-specific job-exposure matrix.Analyses included 34 015 subjects (aged 18-65 years, 67.0% females), of which 1209 (3.6%) reported asthma (608 with physician-confirmed diagnosis). After adjusting for age, sex and smoking habits, lifetime occupational exposure to known asthmagens (20.4%) was significantly associated with physician-diagnosed asthma (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.03-1.59), especially high molecular weight agents (flour: OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.31-4.27; animals: OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.00-2.60). Exposure to low/moderate levels of irritants (17.4%) was associated with physician-diagnosed asthma (OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.48-2.37). More pronounced associations were observed in subjects reporting current treated asthma.Beyond confirming the effect of known asthmagens (which are well-known, mostly from observations in western countries), the results provide evidence for a role of low/moderate exposure to irritants. This finding, observed in a country with a low prevalence of asthma and atopy, provides new insight into the understanding of asthma heterogeneity. @ERSpublications Increased asthma risk was associated with occupational exposure to moderate levels of irritants in an Estonian study

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occupational irritants and asthma: an Estonian cross-sectional study of 34 000 adults

et al. 2014

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“…Both self-reported asthma and allergic symptoms and objective markers of sensitisation were two to three times more common among the adults in North Karelia in Finland compared with Russian Karelia [7]. Re-examination of the same adult population 10 years later in 2007 revealed that the prevalence of symptoms and sensitisation had increased on the Finnish side but not on the Russian side [8]. The observed difference in the prevalence of allergic disorders between East and West Germany, Estonia and Sweden, and urban and rural Mongolia have provided somewhat comparable research opportunities and the results of these studies have been in line with the results of the Karelian Allergy Study [9][10][11].…”

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confidence: 99%

Asthma and respiratory allergy prevalence is still increasing among Finnish young adults

et al. 2015

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Asthma and allergic diseases are a major public health problem, and their prevalence has been increasing in Finland and other developed countries since the 1960s [1,2]. Even though understanding of the origin of these conditions has improved in the last decades, tools for prevention are limited. The main aetiological hypotheses have varied over time. In the 1970-1980s, the main focus was on tobacco smoking and environmental pollution. In the 1990s, the "allergy epidemic" was linked with vaccinations, improved hygiene and reduced burden of infectious disease. During the last 10 years, reduced contact with environmental microbiota has been highlighted [3,4]. We report here the self-reported prevalence of asthma, hay fever or other allergic rhinitis and allergic eye symptom over a 15-year period among the Finnish adult population.The National FINRISK Study has been carried out at 5-year intervals since 1972 to monitor the levels of noncommunicable disease risk factors in Finland [5]. Questions related to asthma and allergic symptoms were included in the study protocol first time in 1997. The present study population consisted of participants of the four last rounds of the study conducted in 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012. In each survey year, a random sample of 10 000 (8000 in 2012) 25-64-year-old men and women was taken. The participation rate varied from 65% to 72% and the total number of participants was 26 939. Data were collected using standardised self-administered questionnaires based on the European Community Respiratory Health Survey [6]. The study protocol was approved by the ethical committee and all participants gave informed consent.Prevalence of asthma was assessed based on responses to the question of whether the respondent has asthma diagnosed by a physician. Hay fever or other allergic rhinitis and allergic eye symptoms were assessed by asking whether the respondent: 1) had never had the symptoms, 2) had had the symptoms during the past 12 months prior the survey, or 3) had had the symptoms but not during the past 12 months. In each study year, the data collection was performed between January and March, before the main pollen season. Data were analysed adjusting for age and stratified by age groups. Statistical analyses were performed by the SAS 9.3 for Windows statistical package (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The significance of age-adjusted prevalence change over time was tested by the Chi-squared test and Wald confidence limits were used to calculate 95% confidence intervals. All analyses were done separately for men and women.

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“…According to the European Federation of Allergy and Airway Diseases Patients Associations, 80 million (24.4 %) adults living in Europe are allergic. The allergy prevalence in children is 30-40 % and increasing (Laatikainen et al, 2011;Rönmark et al, 2009). Allergy to various types of pollen in the air, exacerbated by co-exposure to chemical pollutants and fine aerosols, is the number one chronic disease in Europe, overshadowing allergy to house dust mite and affecting over 20 % of the population (Bousquet et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MACC regional multi-model ensemble simulations of birch pollen dispersion in Europe

et al. 2015

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Abstract. This paper presents the first ensemble modelling experiment in relation to birch pollen in Europe. The sevenmodel European ensemble of MACC-ENS, tested in trial simulations over the flowering season of 2010, was run through the flowering season of 2013. The simulations have been compared with observations in 11 countries, all members of the European Aeroallergen Network, for both individual models and the ensemble mean and median. It is shown that the models successfully reproduced the timing of the very late season of 2013, generally within a couple of days from the observed start of the season. The end of the season was generally predicted later than observed, by 5 days or more, which is a known feature of the source term used in the study. Absolute pollen concentrations during the seaPublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. M. Sofiev et al.: MACC regional multi-model ensemble simulations of birch pollen dispersionson were somewhat underestimated in the southern part of the birch habitat. In the northern part of Europe, a recordlow pollen season was strongly overestimated by all models. The median of the multi-model ensemble demonstrated robust performance, successfully eliminating the impact of outliers, which was particularly useful since for most models this was the first experience of pollen forecasting.

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Allergy gap between Finnish and Russian Karelia on increase

Cited by 69 publications

References 22 publications

Occupational irritants and asthma: an Estonian cross-sectional study of 34 000 adults

Occupational irritants and asthma: an Estonian cross-sectional study of 34 000 adults

Asthma and respiratory allergy prevalence is still increasing among Finnish young adults

MACC regional multi-model ensemble simulations of birch pollen dispersion in Europe

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