Doctors know that 15 million people in the United States experience asthma, the lung condition that causes airways to become swollen and narrow when exposed to allergens, irritants, or infections. What they don't know is exactly why and how people develop the disease. To understand more about the development and course of asthma, researchers from the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Colorado in Denver tracked children from birth to adolescence.
At birth, 826 healthy Arizona infants began participating in the respiratory study. When the children were 3, 6, 8, 11, 13, and 16 years of age, parents, children, and doctors reported how often the children experienced wheezing episodes during the last year. At age 11 and 16, the children underwent lung function and allergy tests (allergies are often closely linked to asthma). The children and their parents also reported the use of inhaled corticosteroid medication to treat the children's asthma.
The researchers noted some key findings:
- Kids who wheezed early in life but who weren't still wheezing by age 6 were as unlikely to wheeze later as kids who never wheezed in early childhood. (These kids may have reduced lung function compared with their peers, but they tend to remain stable, not worsen.)
- Kids who wheezed persistently over time had poorer lung function test results compared with kids who started wheezing later in childhood or adolescence. (These kids have poorer lung function, but it doesn't usually get any worse.)
- Kids who started wheezing later in life had lung function similar to kids who never wheezed at all.
Overall, lung function didn't change much from age 6 to 16, no matter how much the study participants wheezed.
What This Means to You: According to this study, after 6 years of age, a child's wheezing patterns and lung function don't change much. Even if children with asthma have stable lung function, they need to continue to take steps to control the condition throughout childhood and adolescence. With the help of an asthma treatment plan and your child's doctor, you and your child may be able to reduce the severity of asthma symptoms and flares and how often they occur. If you think your child may have asthma - such as if he or she complains of persistent cough, wheezing, or chest tightness - talk to your child's doctor. He or she may recommend medication and other strategies to help control your child's symptoms.
Source: Wayne J. Morgan; Debra A. Stern; Duane L. Sherrill; Stefano Guerra; Catharine J. Holberg; Theresa W. Guilbert; Lynn M. Taussig; Anne L. Wright; Fernando D. Martinez; American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, November 2005.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: December 2005
