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Kids' Asthma Linked to Maternal Nutrition
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 "Maternal asthma is a risk factor for prematurity and low birth weight in babies, and physicians and other health-care professionals need to assess present and past asthma even up to five years prior in order to properly assess risk for premature labor," said lead author Dr. Joel Liem, a research fellow in pediatric allergy and clinical immunology at the University of Manitoba.
Another research group at the same university found that children of mothers who experienced stress (defined as visiting a doctor or getting a prescription for depression or anxiety) were 1.3 times more likely to develop asthma. "The highest risk was in children with repeat exposure to mother's stress," said Anita Kozyrskyj, lead author of the study and associate professor of pharmacy and medicine at the university.
Kozyrskyj could only speculate on the possible mechanisms behind this association. "It may be related to the fact that stress alters mom's behavior, and there is some evidence that stress in the first year of life can cause some changes to the gastrointestinal system," she said.
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Asthma affects more than 18 million people in the United States, with total direct medical expenditures reaching into the billions.
Not surprisingly, researchers are fast in the pursuit of causes as well as better ways to treat the disease.
Other studies presented this week in Miami Beach found that children and parents of children were under-reporting how much asthma medication the child was taking. By one measure, only one-third of the medicine was actually being used.
The study was undertaken to try to understand why people don't adhere to medication guidelines.
"Most patients don't follow daily treatment regimens no matter how good their doctor is," said Bruce Bender, lead author and head of pediatric behavioral health at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. "That disconnect is huge, and it's a large factor in how well we control asthma in kids and adults."
Finally, another study done at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System found that patients with intermittent (as opposed to persistent) asthma accounted for nearly half of all asthma-related emergency department visits.
More information
Visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (www.aaaai.org ) for more on asthma. Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
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Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 3/4/2006
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SOURCES: March 4, 2006, news conference with Carlos Camargo, M.D., Dr.PH, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Joel Liem, M.D., research fellow in pediatric allergy and clinical immunology, University of Manitoba, Canada; Anita Kozyrskyj, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacy and medicine, University of Manitoba; Bruce Bender, Ph.D., head of pediatric behavioral health, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver
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