The clinical course of bronchial asthma (BA) largely depends on the environmental conditions. One of the biological factors of the environmental pollution is the plant pollen. The presence of plant pollen in the air exerts the negative influence on the human health via specific (allergenic) and non-specific effects.The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the aeropalinological factors of the aerial environment of the Southern Coast of the Crimea (SCC) on the results of the spa and health resort-based treatment (SRT) of the patients with bronchial asthma (BA).The study involved 168 patients presenting with BA including 119 (70.83%) women and 49 (29.17%) men; all of them were residents of the Crimea who underwent SRT while staying at the SCC during the period from 2011 to 2013. The average age of the patients was 52.94±11.78 years. The examination of all the patients included a questionnaire survey, general medical inspection, physical examination, complete blood cell count, analysis of sputum cytology, external respiration function testing, and the assessment of the disease control with the use of the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ). The duration of treatment was 21 days. The drug treatment of all the patients was carried out in accordance with the generally recognized protocols for the management of asthma. Four groups of patients were formed depending on the periods of plant dusting at the Southern Coast of the Crimea, viz. cypress (n=51), pine (n=24), ragweed (n=29), and cedar (n=47); in addition, one more group of patients was distinguished who resided at SCC outside the periods of these plants dusting (n=17).After the completion of the spa and health resort-based treatment, the highest frequency of the absence of cough (62.5%) and dry rales in the lungs (87.5%) was revealed in the patients treated during the pine dusting period (the cough and dry rales in lungs were absent in 31.0-49.0% and 55.3-79.3% of the cases respectively during the dusting seasons of other plants of interest). The aeropalinological factors were shown to have no significant influence on the values of the parameters obtained with the use of the general blood tests and the analysis of sputum cytology. The best characteristics of the external respiration function were documented in the patients who had been treated during the pine dusting period. At the end of the SRT, no significant differences were found as regards the results of the ACQ and AST tests between the patients of the groups being compared. Nor was there a significant dependence of the dynamics of the clinical, laboratory, and functional indicators achieved as a result of SRT on the magnitude of the aeropalinological factors at the Southern Coast of the Crimea. The worst immediate effectiveness of SRT was inherent in the patients suffering from bronchial asthma who had been treated during dusting of the ragweed.Certain results of the spa and health resort-based treatment of the patients presenting with BA under conditions of the Southern Coast of the Crimea depend on the character and composition of the aeropalynologic factors in this region. Specifically, the treatment based at a health resort facility during the dusting period of the pine leads to the achievement of the best clinical and functional status of the patients in comparison with those treated during the cypress, ragweed, and cedar dusting periods, or in the absence of dusting of these plants. The worst immediate effectiveness of SRT was documented in the BA patients who had been treated during the ragweed dusting period.
