Asthma May Be Outgrown
One in five children may “outgrow” asthma as they get older, a new study suggests.
As part of the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden studies program, researchers followed 248 children who had asthma at age 7 to 8 and found that by age 19, 21 percent had experienced no wheezing in the previous three years and had reported no need for inhalers. The findings appeared in the journal Pediatrics.
Doctors noted that since symptoms could return, the asthma would be considered in remission rather than cured. Girls were less likely than boys to be asthma-free as teenagers: 14 percent for girls, compared with 26 percent for boys. The reason was not clear, though it could relate to hormonal factors during adolescence, said Dr. Martin Andersson, who led the study.
Remission was also less common among children who had a severe type of asthma and in those with allergic sensitivities to furry animals like dogs and cats, though many of those children also became free of asthma. Among children with both severe asthma and pet sensitivities, 18 percent were asthma-free by age 19.
“One area that needs further study is the relation between ownership of furred animals and childhood asthma,” Dr. Andersson said. “For example, whether such exposure has an impact on the prognosis.”
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