Genomic Functions – Health News

Posts Tagged ‘Asthma’

Early exposure to antibiotics would increase by 13 percent the risk of childhood asthma, a figure much lower than known so far, according to a systematic review of the literature. However, more rigorous studies are needed.

The study, published in Pediatrics, “provides evidence for caution in interpreting this relationship,” said lead researcher Dr. Michael B. Bracken, an epidemiologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Bracken’s team reviewed the medical literature and identified 22 studies on how exposure to antibiotics during pregnancy or the first year of life influences the risk of developing asthma up to 18 years old.

Children who had been exposed to antibiotics between birth and first year of life were 52 percent more likely to develop asthma than those without such exposure. In the three studies of children exposed during pregnancy, the possibility grew 24 percent.

The team acknowledges that there may be potential biases. For example, parents of children with asthma are more likely to remember any early use of drugs and the initial symptoms of asthma may be confused with a respiratory infection and treated with antibiotics, leading to possible reverse causality. To study better, the team conducted a separate analysis based on factors such as study design.

As expected, retrospective studies showed a higher association: exposure to antibiotics in children doubled the risk of developing asthma. So did the jobs that were not controlled early respiratory infections. Read the rest of this entry »

In cities, children with poorly controlled asthma or skin allergies may be more likely to develop food allergies.

Researchers found that among 228 children cared for residents of New York at his clinic, that 28 percent had allergies to eggs, peanuts and milk, among others, when the rate of food allergies in the child population in the United States is 4 percent. And 71 percent were sensitive to at least one food, which means that the immune system blood had antibodies against this product. In other words, the organism was alert and had more risk of an allergic reaction. That figure also exceeds the average number.

Most of these children (62 percent) had never had a bad reaction to a food. But I had done test because they were asthmatic or had drug-resistant eczema. The participants were patients at a clinic specializing in allergies, so they do not represent the child population in the cities. Still, the results suggest that physicians who treat this population with asthma or eczema resistant “should be suspicious of food allergies,” said Dr. Julie Wang told Reuters Health. In such cases, said the lead author of the study, should undertake a detailed history of symptoms and refer the family to an allergy specialist if necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Children living in homes with visible moisture problems are at high risk of developing asthma and allergies, according to a new study.

Researchers found that in 61 international studies conducted since the 1990s, children living in homes with leaks and moisture are more likely to be asthmatic, wheezing or nasal allergies than others. This does not prove that moisture is the “trigger,” the authors write.

But laboratory tests have suggested that exposure to moisture and mold spores in the air can cause inflammation of the airways, said Dr. Christina Tischer, German Research Center for Environmental Health in Neuherberg. This highlights the importance of getting rid of moisture and avoid, she added by e-mail.

Tischer’s team selected the studies that had examined the mold, which is the most obvious indication of the problem, and separated from smaller ones in which the authors had analyzed samples of the mold components obtained in homes.

In general, children living in homes with visible mold were 49 percent more likely to have asthma than those not exposed to this fungus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disease Prevention (CDC for its acronym in English), almost 10 percent of U.S. children have asthma. Read the rest of this entry »