UGA researchers find tie between asthma, thunderstorms

By: VINCE HAMPTON

Posted: 7/24/08

Asthma attacks and thunderstorms. Though the two seem totally unrelated, a team of researchers from the University and Emory University have found that there is a three percent increase of attacks in the days following a thunderstorm.

Researchers looked at records of 10 million visits to hospitals in Atlanta and 20 surrounding counties caused by asthma attacks from 1993-2004.

"The most prominent [hypothesis] involves pollens and mold spores in conjunction with thunderstorm winds and rain. The sinking downdraft winds from a thunderstorm can re-suspend particles and the rain water can cause the pollen grains to rupture, releasing small granules that are easy to inhale, this is why after a thunderstorm, the air may actually have higher concentration of aerosols," said Andrew Grundstein, a climatologist in the geography department and lead author of the research.

Published research on the connection between asthma attacks and thunderstorms is rare, and the team was aided by their ability to divide the research based on the strengths of their particular institutions.

"It's a great research team that includes our strength in meteorology with their expertise in asthma studies," Grundstein said.

The research will continue taking the two main components of a thunderstorm, rain and lightning, and studying them separately to discover exactly what each contributes to the rise in asthma attacks.

Approximately eight percent of adults in Georgia have asthma, according to a 2007 report issued by the public health division of the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Grundstein said that findings from future research may help those who suffer from asthma.

"If we can identify the characteristic we may be able to develop some early warning systems. It's also important to better understand the relationship between thunderstorms and asthma in the context of climate change because as the earth warms, some areas may get more thunderstorms and thus it could become more of a public health issue."