Paper Downloads

W.R. Cobern, P.E. McSharry and L. Tarassenko (2005) The effect of local weather conditions on the lung function of mild-to-moderate asthmatics IEEE EMBSS UKRI Postgraduate Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics, 18-20 July, Reading, UK. Proceedings of PGBIOMED

Abstract

The correlation between severe asthma attacks and weather conditions such as thunderstorms has been known for some time. However, the effect of local weather on the measured values of lung function on a daily basis has not been investigated. This study has identified a significant trend for a group with mild-to-moderate asthma; lung capacity decreases with increasing temperature and pressure. A model is presented that shows how lung function is affected by atmospheric conditions. It is proposed that weather conditions should be included when considering personal management plans for asthma.

Keywords

Telemedicine, Mobile telephones, Healthcare, Asthma, Weather, Lung function, Exacerbation, Peak expiratory flow