Health Asthma


Asthma in the news


Asthma is a subject of many a research study. Here’s a quick round-up of the results of some of the latest scientific evidence surrounding the condition…


‘Fruit juice may increase children’s


asthma risk’ Children who drink lots of fruit juice may be 79 percent more likely to develop asthma by than those who rarely drink sugary drinks, say scientists from Harvard University. The same study also found that women who drink sugary drinks while pregnant may be 70 percent more likely to have a child diagnosed with asthma by the time they reach seven to nine years old than others who avoid drinks with sugar when they’re pregnant. The study was published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.


‘Football players to be screened


for asthma’ University of Kent researchers have called for professional footballers to be screened for the type of asthma triggered by exercise after their study found three in 10 top footballers could be affected. In tests, 27 out of 97 footballers were found to have airway or breathing problems, 10 of whom had no previous history of asthma. The study was presented at a meeting of the British Thoracic Society.


‘Obesity could make asthma worse ‘Having a dog in early life may reduce children’s


asthma risk’ Scientists at Imperial College London recently discovered that some young children may be less likely to develop asthma later in life than others if they had a dog when they were very young (up to the age of two or three years). But the study – which examined 20,000 children – also found that having a cat could increase a child’s asthma risk. The researchers don’t know why, but they think dogs may carry ‘helpful’ bacteria.


‘Vitamin D supplements lower risk of asthma attacks’ Taking vitamin D supplements has been shown to reduce the risk of asthma attacks by 30 percent and the number of hospital visits for asthma attacks by 50 percent, say experts from Queen Mary University of London. The researchers suggest vitamin D may boost the immune system of those who have asthma, and that may help prevent harmful respiratory viral infections. Previous studies, they claim, have linked vitamin D to improved immune system health.


Vitamin D may boost the immune system of those who have asthma, and that may help prevent harmful respiratory viral infections


22 All About You


in preschoolers’ Weight gain early in life may increase the severity of asthma in young children, say experts writing in the Journal of Clinical Immunology. Compared with children of a healthy weight, obese youngsters with untreated asthma had symptoms on 37 more days in a year, the study’s results suggest.


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