Anxiety, Depression in Pregnancy May Raise Kids' Asthma Risk

FRIDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- Children of women who experience anxiety and depression during pregnancy may be at greater risk for asthma, according to new research.

The study of 279 inner-city black and Hispanic women adds weight to research previously conducted among white families that found children are particularly susceptible to asthma-related risks during the prenatal period.

The findings are published in the July issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

"Approximately 70 percent of mothers who said they experienced high levels of anxiety or depression while they were pregnant reported their child had wheezed before age 5," study lead author Marilyn Reyes, a researcher at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York City, said in a news release from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

"Understanding how maternal depression affects a child's respiratory health is important in developing effective interventions," Reyes added.

The research team said common asthma symptoms include:

• Coughing, particularly during the night
• Wheezing or whistling while breathing
• Difficulty breathing that causes the skin around the ribs or neck to sink in
• Frequent chest colds

The study authors noted that children who experience any of these symptoms on a regular basis could have asthma and should see an allergist.

"The symptoms of pediatric asthma can range from a nagging cough that lingers for days or weeks to sudden and scary breathing emergencies," allergist Dr. Rachel Miller, study senior author, said in the news release. "With the right treatment, your child can sleep through the night, avoid missing time from day care or preschool, and breathe easy."

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Paracetamol links to allergy/asthma in young children, study suggests

Links between early paracetamol use and the development of allergies and asthma in five and six year old children have been confirmed by health researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington.

The report by Professor Julian Crane is based on the New Zealand Asthma and Allergy Cohort Study. It investigated the use of paracetamol by 505 infants in Christchurch, and 914 five and six year olds in Wellington and Christchurch to see if they developed any signs of asthma or allergic sensitivity. The study has recently been published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy.

“The major finding is that children who used paracetamol before the age of 15 months (90%) were more than three times as likely to become sensitized to allergens and twice as likely to develop symptoms of asthma at six years old than children not using paracetamol,” says Professor Crane.

“However at present we don’t know why this might be so. We need clinical trials to see whether these associations are causal or not, and to clarify the use of this common medication.”

The research also found that by six years 95% of the study sample were using paracetamol and there was a significant increased risk for current asthma and wheeze. However the findings depended on how much paracetamol was being used, with the risk greater for those with severe asthma symptoms.

“The results at this stage are supportive of a role for paracetamol in asthma and allergic disease,” says Professor Crane.

However there may be many different mechanisms operating in the links between paracetamol and allergy/asthma researchers say. For instance it has been shown that fever in infancy may reduce allergy in childhood, and that paracetamol may affect antigen processing in the immune system early in life, or may be linked to free radical damage and enhancement of allergic inflammation and bronchospasm.

The University of Otago study concludes that although direct causation between paracetamol and allergy/asthma has not been established, neither has paracetamol been shown to have a beneficial effect on disease outcomes when used against fever, and guidelines for its use are unclear.

Provided by University of Otago

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Asthma in Children

Asthma is a chronic disease that causes the airways - the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs - to become sore and swollen. In the United States, about 20 million people have asthma. Nearly 9 million of them are children. Children have smaller airways than adults, which makes asthma especially serious for them. Children with asthma may experience wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing, especially early in the morning or at night.

Many things can cause asthma, including :

• Allergens - mold, pollen, animals
• Irritants - cigarette smoke, air pollution
• Weather - cold air, changes in weather
• Exercise
• Infections - flu, common cold

When asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it is called an asthma attack. Asthma is treated with two kinds of medicines: quick-relief medicines to stop asthma symptoms and long-term control medicines to prevent symptoms.

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Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects your airways. Your airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and they may react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. When your airways react, they get narrower and your lungs get less air. This can cause wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing, especially early in the morning or at night.

When your asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it's called an asthma attack. In a severe asthma attack, the airways can close so much that your vital organs do not get enough oxygen. People can die from severe asthma attacks.
Asthma is treated with two kinds of medicines: quick-relief medicines to stop asthma symptoms and long-term control medicines to prevent symptoms.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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