Asthma rates rise as kids get older
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Some children who have asthma at age 7 are asthma-free by the time they reach 12, but the number of kids who go into remission is more than offset by the number who develop the condition during that age period, according to Swedish investigators.
Dr. Eva Ronmark, of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and colleagues examined the prevalence, incidence, and remission of asthma in children as they aged from 7-8 years to 11-12 years, and assessed the risk factor patterns for asthma during this period.
A total of 3525 children between 7 and 8 years old were invited in 1996 to take part in a study using an expanded International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, and were re-assessed annually. Skin prick tests for allergies were performed at the beginning and after 4 years.
Overall, there was an increase in the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma from 5.7 percent at age 7-8 years to 7.7 percent at age 11-12, according to the researchers’ report in the journal Allergy.
Remission occurred in approximately 10 percent of asthmatic kids yearly, and was more likely in those with fewer allergies. However, relapses were common, and persisting remission was 5 percent per year.
Sensitization to any allergen was the strongest risk factor for current asthma, the team found, with no difference between the sexes.
A family history of asthma was the second-strongest risk factor, according to the report, and having lived with a cat was “significantly negatively associated with current asthma.”
SOURCE: Allergy, May 2006.
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