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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter April 17, 2018

Potential causes of asthma in the United Arab Emirates: drawing insights from the Arabian Gulf

  • Sarah Dalibalta EMAIL logo , Fatin Samara , Haya Qadri and Hibatallah Adouchana

Abstract

There is considerable concern on the rise in the incidence of asthma worldwide with statistics in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) indicating that at least 13% of schoolchildren, particularly of Emirati descent, suffer from asthma. With its high rates of hospital admissions, negative socioeconomic impact and significant morbidity, this is a disease that requires optimal guidelines for control and awareness. In this article, we review the current knowledge of asthma in the UAE and draw on studies, especially from the surrounding region, to identify its contributing factors within this population. The most frequently identified agents pertinent to the UAE include outdoor and indoor environmental causes exacerbated by the country’s rapid urbanization, genetic factors aided in transmission by consanguineous marriage, the patient’s socioeconomic status and a rise in vitamin D deficiencies. This evidence aims to inform healthcare professionals and governmental agencies in order to best create guidelines for controlling the burden of this debilitating disease.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the American University of Sharjah.

  1. Author statement

  2. Research funding: Authors state no funding involved. Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest. Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable. Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animal use.

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Received: 2017-09-04
Accepted: 2018-03-08
Published Online: 2018-04-17
Published in Print: 2018-06-27

©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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