In 2004, there were 2.4 million children aged 5 to 14 years, or 5.9% of this population group, with a self-reported asthma attack, with no decrease in prevalence since 1997 1 in spite of the much improved therapies available. In this interval, the number of physician office visits for asthma doubled, from 1.7 to 3.3 million which many leads to asthma morbidity and asthma mortality. (more…)

The genetic basis of asthma heritability has been extensively studied and the studies are yielding some understanding. There is, as yet, no set genetic pattern that predicts presence of asthma or defines it severity. There are usually reasons or risk of asthma factors that makes someone susceptible to asthma and respiratory allergy problems. Asthma doesn’t just happen randomly to anyone without asthma gene factors risk factors.

Let’s consider some asthma risk factors and see how they increase the chance that a individual will have the asthma signs or symptoms of cough, wheezing, as well as shortness of breathing associated with the disease. After determining your personal risk factors for asthma, decide on the ones you can control as well as try to make some lifestyle changes. Avoidance of the risk factors you can control is important in preventing asthma symptoms. While you cannot change your own gender to family history, you can avoid smoking with asthma, breathing polluted air, and obesity. Take control of your asthma by controlling the asthma risk factors. By understanding all of the risk factors, you are able to prevent to control your asthma.

Genetic factors cannot explain the rise in asthma prevalence, morbidity, or mortality. However, a small change in the prevalence of relevant environmental exposures could explain a significant rise in disease prevalence among genetically susceptible individuals. Gene-environment interaction, defined as the co-participation of genetic and environmental factors, is particularly relevant to the etiology of asthma morbidity, especially in individuals who experience a disproportionate burden of environmental exposures. Relevant exposures include smoking, stress, nutritional factors, infections, allergens, and occupational asthma exposures. In addition, racial/ethnic variability in the distribution of genetic polymorphisms can potentially modify the response to pharmacotherapeutic agents, such as the ß 2 -adrenergic receptor. A genetic polymorphism in the ß 2 -adrenergic receptor gene has been associated with asthma severity, as well as with the susceptibility to develop asthma among individuals who smoked.

Childhood asthma happens more frequently in boys than in girls. It is still not known precisely why this occurs even though some experts find a young male’s airway size is small compared to the female’s airway, that may contribute to increased risk of wheezing after a cold or perhaps other viral infection. Around age 20, the ratio of asthma between people is the same. At age 40, more females than men have adult asthma.

The inherited genetic makeup predisposes you to having asthma. In fact, it’s thought that three-fifths of all asthma cases are hereditary. Based on CDC report, if a person has a parent with asthma, there is 3 to 6 times more probably to develop asthma than someone who does definitely not have a parent with asthma.

Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its development. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention programme for the primary prevention of asthma in high-risk infants at 7 years of age. Five hundred and forty-five high-risk infants with an immediate family history of asthma and allergies were prospectively randomized into intervention and control groups pre-natally. (more…)

This study sought to determine the influence of passive exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood on the results of genetic linkage analyses for asthma. A genome wide linkage screen for asthma and bronchial hyper responsiveness was performed in 200 families (containing 1183 individuals) from The Netherlands. A set of 266 polymorphic autosomal markers was used. Analyses were performed separately for the entire population and for the smoking exposed and non exposed families separately. (more…)

There is increasing evidence relating body mass index to the prevalence of asthma and incidence of asthma in children and adults, males, and more consistently, in adolescent females. It is unlikely that the association is attributable to reverse causation, i.e. that asthma and obesity because of exercise-induced asthma symptoms. Rather, weight gain can antedate the development of asthma. Weight reduction among asthmatic patients can also result in improvements of lung function. (more…)

Classification of bronchial asthma can be based on age, etiology, associated characteristics, or severity. Classifications based on severity have been primarily designed as an approach to asthma treatment. Thus, management of mild intermittent disease may require only bronchodilator treatment, but frequent attacks with or without persistent mild symptoms require a comprehensive approach to controlling inflammation as well as bronchodilator treatment. Severe asthma can become a major clinical problem that requires specialist care and many different approaches to asthma attack treatment. (more…)

Atopic Dermatitis is considered to be one of the first manifestations in the atopic march. The aim of this study was to investigate prospectively the natural course of Atopic Dermatitis to determine factors influencing its prognosis and to analyse the relationship of Atopic Dermatitis with childhood asthma. The Multicenter Allergy Study, a German birth cohort, followed 1314 children from birth to age 7 years. Physical examinations, parental interviews on atopic symptoms and diagnoses, and determination of specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E levels were performed regularly. (more…)

The protective effect of breast-feeding on asthma and allergy has been debated for more than 60 years without any hope of a consensus. A major problem is the lack of randomized controlled trials. However, breast-feeding has a number of other benefits and should be recommended irrespective of any effect on asthma or allergy. This is why randomized trials are not considered ethical. Thus, we have to rely on observational studies, which have produced conflicting results. Mothers who do or do not breastfeed differ in several environmental exposures, including socio-economic class, smoking and area of living, which influence indoor and outdoor exposure to pollutants. Despite statistical adjustment for these confounding factors, the evidence is never as robust as it would be with an randomized controlled trial. (more…)

It is very common in asthmatic children where overprotective parents prevent a normal level of exercise to their kids. However, a controlled sport appropriate to the course of their disease is very healthy.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable bronchial obstruction and reversible, either spontaneously or with treatment, (more…)

The two strongest risk factors for asthma in childhood are a family history and immediate hypersensitivity to common allergens. This immune response includes both IgE antibodies and helper T cells type 2 (Th2), both of which are thought to contribute to the inflammation in the respiratory tract. Children with asthma who mount an immune response to inhalant allergens have an increased risk of developing asthma because of this combination of genetics and exposure. However, it is sensitization to indoor allergens (e.g. dust mites, cats, dogs, and cockroaches) that is strongly associated with asthma. (more…)