Friday, October 23, 2009

'Difficult-to-treat Asthma' May Be Due To Difficult-to-treat Patients

ScienceDaily (2009-10-23) -- Difficult-to-treat asthma often may have more to do with patients who do not take their medication as instructed than ineffective medication, according to researchers in Northern Ireland. ... > read full article

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Symptoms of an Asthma Attack in Children

Health Tip: Signs of an Asthma Attack in Your Child




(HealthDay News) -- There may be warning signs before your child has a full-blown asthma attack.

The American Lung Association says parents should be on the lookout for these potential red flags that an asthma attack may be imminent:

A frightened facial expression and posture that indicates the child can't relax.

Restless sleep.

Coughing, particularly at night.

Sweating, pale skin, rapid breathing and flaring of the nostrils.

Labored breathing with the lips pursed.

Vomiting and fatigue.

Sunken areas between the ribs or in the neck.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Asthma's Course Differs by Gender - ABC News

Asthma's Course Differs by Gender - ABC News
FRIDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Boys may be more likely to have childhood asthma than girls, but they are also more likely to grow out of it, a new study says.

The report, published in the second August issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that boys also have fewer asthma occurrences in the post-pubertal years.

The study tracked more than 1,000 children, ages 5 to 12, with mild to moderate persistent asthma over nine years. Each child received an annual spirometric testing with methacholine challenges to quantify their airway responsiveness (AR).

After an average of 8.6 years, boys became increasingly tolerant over time to larger and larger doses of methacholine, which provokes airway constriction, suggesting a possible decrease in disease severity. By age 16, it took more than twice as much methacholine to provoke a 20 percent constriction in the boys' airway on average as it did with the girls'.

Over the years, the girls' reactivity did not change markedly. By age 18, only 14 percent of the girls showed no significant degree of airways responsiveness, compared to 27 percent of boys.

"While our results were not unexpected, they do point to intriguing potential mechanisms to explain the gender differences in asthma incidence and severity. Especially intriguing is that the differences in gender begin at the time of transition into early puberty," the lead researcher, Dr. Kelan G. Tantisira of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said in a news release issued by the journal's publisher.


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Infant Inhalation Of Ultrafine Air Pollution Linked To Adult Lung Disease

ScienceDaily (2009-07-23) -- Early exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (present in airborne ultrafine particulate matter) affects long-term lung function, according to new research. These results could be especially important because the US Environmental Protection Agency does not currently regulate ultrafine PM emissions. ... > read full article

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

NIH Prepares To Launch 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Trial In People With Asthma

ScienceDaily (2009-10-11) -- The National Institutes of Health is preparing to launch the first government-sponsored clinical trial to determine what dose of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine is needed to induce a protective immune response in people with asthma, especially those with severe disease. ... > read full article

Asthma and Cities: Which Cities Rank Best?

Cape Coral, FL.
Seattle, WA
Minneapolis, MN
Colorado Springs, CO
Portland, OR
Palm Bay, FL
Daytona Beach, FL
San Francisco, CA
Portland, ME
Boise City, ID
 
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Asthma and Cities: Which Cities Rank Best?

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Traffic Exhaust Can Cause Asthma, Allergies And Impaired Respiratory Function In Children

ScienceDaily (2008-04-10) -- Children exposed to high levels of air pollution during their first year of life run a greater risk of developing asthma, pollen allergies, and impaired respiratory function. However, genetic factors are also at play. ... > read full article
Breastfeeding Does Not Protect Against Asthma, Allergies, New Study Shows

ScienceDaily (2007-09-12) -- Breastfeeding does not protect children against developing asthma or allergies, according to a new study. The results indicate that increased breastfeeding did not reduce the risk of asthma, hayfever or eczema at 6.5 years of age despite large increases in the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. It also did not succeed in reducing the prevalence of positive skin prick tests. ... > read full article
Fast-food Diet Cancels Out Benefits Of Breastfeeding In Preventing Asthma, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (2009-01-28) -- Eating fast food more than once or twice a week negated the beneficial effects that breastfeeding has in protecting children from asthma. ... > read full article
759,000 Children With Asthma Endure Gaps In Insurance Every Year

ScienceDaily (2008-01-16) -- Every year, 759,000 children with asthma may be at risk of a major asthma attack while they have no health insurance. About 30 percent of those families earn more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, putting them above the threshold for the state children's health insurance program in most states. Chronic asthma requires ongoing treatment to avoid hospitalizations. ... > read full article
Children With Asthma More Likely To Have Behavior Difficulties

ScienceDaily (2006-02-07) -- City children with asthma are more likely to have problems with behavior than children without the chronic respiratory problems, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study in this month's Pediatrics. ... > read full article
Swimming Aids Asthma Symptoms In Children, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (2009-08-27) -- Research has shown that swimming aids asthma symptoms in children. The activity has been proven to be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for children and adolescents, according to a new study. ... > read full article
Possible Link Between Baby Swimming And Breathing Problems In Children

ScienceDaily (2008-04-17) -- Children with mothers who have allergies or asthma have an increased risk of wheezing in the chest if they take part in baby swimming before 6 months of age. ... > read full article
'Hygiene Hypothesis' Challenged: Day Care Doubles Early Respiratory Problems, Does Not Prevent Later Asthma And Allergy

ScienceDaily (2009-09-08) -- New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight. ... > read full article
Birth Order Linked To Asthma Symptoms

ScienceDaily (2008-05-11) -- Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children. ... > read full article
Tree-lined Streets Mean Lower Rates Of Childhood Asthma, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (2008-05-02) -- Children who live in tree-lined streets have lower rates of asthma, suggests new research. The researchers base their findings on rates of asthma rates for the disease among 4 to 5 year olds, and hospital admissions for the disease among children up to 15, from 42 health service districts of New York City, USA. ... > read full article
Asthma Rates And Where You Live

ScienceDaily (2009-06-08) -- A new study shows how neighborhood characteristics play a significant role in childhood asthma. ... > read full article
Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (2009-05-20) -- The inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than their peers who do not get the vaccine, according to new research. While these findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations, according to researchers. ... > read full article
Fall Babies: Born To Wheeze?

ScienceDaily (2008-11-24) -- It is said that timing is everything and that certainly appears to be true for autumn infants. Children who are born four months before the height of cold and flu season have a greater risk of developing childhood asthma than children born at any other time of year, according to new research. ... > read full article

10 Worst U.S. Cities for Asthma, 2009

10. Little Rock, AR
 9.  Atlanta, GA
 8.  McAllen, TX
 7.  Knoxville, TN
 6.  Memphis, TN
 5. Charlotte, NC
 4. Chattanooga, TN
 3. Birmingham, AL
 2. Milwaukee, WI
 1. St. Louis, MO


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Slideshow: 10 Worst Cities for Asthma, 2009

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