Allergy & Asthma Advocate: Spring 2007
The studies summarized below appeared in the Journal of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology (JACI), the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Academy of
Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Body weight is associated with quality of life in children with asthma
 Mild to moderate asthma affects lung growth, producing airway obstruction that increases in magnitude from age five to 18 years, according to a new study in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI).
Robert C. Strunk, MD, FAAAAI, and colleagues aimed to show the impact of mild to moderate childhood asthma on lung growth. They found:
- Asthma may predispose to significant lung disease in early childhood and potentially lead to development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) later in life.
- Forced vital capacity for both sexes at age 5 years is higher for CAMP compared with children without asthma, and became increasingly larger than the children with out asthma after age 6 years.
These findings suggest that mild to moderate asthma results in a pattern of airway obstruction that increases in magnitude from age 5 to 18 years and periodic spirometry is needed to monitor children with asthma for signs of increasing airway obstruction with appropriate intervention following national guidelines.
Prevention of allergic disease during childhood by allergen avoidance
Effective asthma management strategies, especially regular use of inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting beta-agonists and asthma specialist care, are independently associated with better long-term asthma control. These findings are featured in the November 2006 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI).
Asthma cannot be currently cured and therefore, the goal of asthma therapy is control. Michael Schatz, MD, MS, FAAAAI, and colleagues attempted to identify independent prospective determinants of long-term asthma control.
 The study found:
- A significant improvement in long-term control with increasing number of asthma management strategies, even after adjusting for the other predictors of long-term control.
- Long-term asthma control was significantly and inversely related to all severity-related asthma use measures tested.
- Long-term control was significantly and directly related to all management characteristics.
- Long-term control was significantly and inversely related to smoking and COPD but
not to reflux.
- Poor long-term control was significantly related to younger age, lower educational level and being African American or male, but not income level.
They found that long-term asthma control is inversely related to asthma severity. Also effective management strategies are independently associated with better long-term control. This data could be used to improve long-term asthma control among the many asthma sufferers in the world.
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