A child’s unique “web of exposures” can affect lung health
Naturally, aspects of a person’s environment are connected, but until recently, scientists lacked the tools to visualize this complex web. The “exposome” concept maps environmental exposures and shows how they can affect a person’s health.
In the first study to apply the exposome concept to look at early life lung health in Canadian children, AllerGen trainee Dr. Michelle North and AllerGen investigator Dr. Anne Ellis found, among other things, that breastfeeding, the presence of siblings, and a higher gestational age had positive influences on respiratory health in childhood.
The study, Exploring parentally reported respiratory outcomes through the lens of the exposome, published in Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, examined data from 560 women involved in the Kingston Allergy Birth Cohort.