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Babies Who Wheeze Don’t Have To Develop Asthma

21 January 2002

Researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered that not all babies who wheeze will develop asthma in later life.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered that not all babies who wheeze will develop asthma in later life.

Dr Andrea Sherriff and asthma experts from the Institute of Child Health in Bristol and St George’s Hospital Medical School in London studied around 10 000 children taking part in the Children of the 90s project in Bristol.

The researchers discovered that over 60% of babies who wheezed in the first 6 months had stopped by 3 ½ years of age. When they were compared to babies who did not wheeze, they were smaller at birth and were more likely to have one or both parents who smoked. The researchers believe that these babies would have smaller lungs and narrower airways when they were born, which would cause them to wheeze particularly when they had a cold or chest infection. However as they get older and grow bigger, their lungs and airways would develop normally and the majority of them would stop wheezing.

On the other hand, there was a small proportion of children, who as babies did not wheeze, but then started wheezing around 3 years of age. These children may be at a greater risk of developing asthma - as their parents were more likely to have asthma and many of them were already showing signs of eczema and allergies - which are known to be linked to asthma in older children and adults.

Asthma in children is increasing and very little is known about why this is the case. By studying the health of very young children and their parents and linking this to what we know about their lifestyles and environments - as well as their genes - we may begin to understand why so many more children these days suffer from this disturbing illness.

Notes:

Sherriff A, Peters TJ, Henderson J, Strachan D, ALSPAC Study Team. Risk factor associations with wheezing patterns in children followed longitudinally from birth to 3½ years. (Published in: International Journal of Epidemiology on-line version, January 21, 2002). doi: 10.1093/ije/30.6.1473

ALSPAC The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (also known as Children of the 90s) is a unique ongoing research project based in the University of Bristol. It enrolled 14,000 mothers during pregnancy in 1991-2 and has followed most of the children and parents in minute detail ever since.

 

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