pulmonary disorders
Work Related Asthma
Introduction
Work-related asthma includes both occupational asthma and work-exacerbated asthma. Occupational asthma is new-onset asthma that is caused by exposure to either allergens or irritants in the workplace and is further classified as either sensitizer-induced or irritant-induced. Work-exacerbated asthma is pre-existing asthma that is worsened by workplace conditions, such as temperature extremes, dust, cleaning products, damp environments or environmental allergens. Symptoms of work-related asthma include dyspnea, wheezing, cough, and, occasionally, upper respiratory allergy symptoms. Diagnosis is based primarily on occupational history, including assessment of job activities, exposures in the work environment, and a temporal association between work and symptoms. Treatment involves exposure reduction (and if necessary removal), asthma medications as needed, and close monitoring. (See also Overview of Environmental and Occupational Pulmonary Diseases and Approximately 15% of adult-onset asthma is attributed to occupational exposure ( General references ). Work-related asthma should be suspected in all adults with asthma, especially those with new-onset or worsening asthma. Workplaces commonly contain multiple irritants and allergens that can cause or exacerbate asthma. Often identifying the specific agent (eg, cleaning product, hair care product) is challenging and usually unnecessary. However, it is important to distinguish work-related asthma from other airway disorders that are related to the workplace, such as upper airway irritation, Vocal Cord Dysfunction , Workplace-related asthma can continue to cause symptoms even after exposure to the inciting irritant or allergen has ceased. 