High levels of indoor air pollution can increase the symptoms of asthma in children, new research has suggested.

A study by Johns Hopkins University has revealed a link between "increasing levels of indoor particulate matter pollution and the severity of asthma symptoms" in children.

"We found that substantial increases in asthma symptoms were associated both with higher indoor concentrations of fine particles and with higher indoor concentrations of coarse particles," explained lead author Meredith C McCormack.

Co-author Gregory Diette pointed out that children spend as much as 80 per cent of their time indoors, meaning the results of the study could have significant importance on understanding how asthma develops and how it could be prevented.

The study found that for every ten micrograms per cubic meter of air increase in indoor coarse particle concentration, there was a six per cent increase in the number of days of cough, wheeze, or chest tightness in the children.

That increased to a seven per cent increase for fine particles.

A recent study by Decode Genetics and Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen looking into genome association in over 50,000 subjects could provide doctors with a better understanding of asthma, the researchers claimed.

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