Asthma is like a deadly sensitivity to life. Anything from dust to passing clouds to stress induces the response that constricts the asthmatic’s airways, leaving the victim with a frightening sensation of drowning in air. It is a chronic ailment brought on by a barely understood concoction of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors—including cockroaches, according to a study released last May.
The incidence of asthma is especially high in poor inner-city neighborhoods. Looking for an explanation for that pattern, allergist David Rosenstreich of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and his colleagues spent a year studying 1,500 asthmatic ghetto children in eight different cities. The researchers assessed the kids’ sensitivity to 14 common allergens and in nearly half the cases actually measured the levels of cat dander, dust-mite droppings, and cockroach proteins in the homes. They also evaluated the mental health of the mothers—when it’s bad, ...
