Outdoor pools boost child's asthma risk

Outdoor pools boost child's asthma risk: study - Yahoo! News: 2008.09.24
" Swimming in outdoor chlorinated pools appears to increase the odds a child will develop asthma...Other studies have linked chlorine and asthma but the new findings published in the European Respiratory Journal cast doubt on the idea outdoor pools are safer than indoor ones where chlorine vapors remains trapped inside an enclosed space..."The more you swim, the higher the risk"...And because children tend to spend more time in pools they are more likely to swallow chlorinated water or ingest vapors containing chemicals that attack the cellular barriers protecting the lung from allergens...Children with the highest pool attendance -- one hour per week for 10 years -- were five times more likely to be asthmatic than young people who had never swum in a pool..."Young children are more exposed because they take more water into their airways and their lungs are still developing,"..."

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Use Of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Asthma In Young Children

Use Of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Asthma In Young Children: "ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) — Women who use a lot of household cleaning products when they are pregnant, or shortly after giving birth, are increasing their child’s risk of developing asthma. That’s according to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents of Children (ALSPAC, also known as Children of the Nineties), that recruited over 13,000 children from before birth and has followed them to post 16...early life exposure to the chemicals contained in household cleaning products was linked to a 41% increase in a child’s chances of developing asthma by the age of 7 years...“Previous research has shown that a child’s risk of developing asthma is lower if he or she is exposed to bacteria or bacterial products (endotoxins) in early life (‘hygiene hypothesis’), probably because it assists in the development of a child’s immune system...However, our research suggests that one possible mechanism for this hypothesis may involve the chemicals found in domestic cleaning products. These chemicals have been linked to increased risk of asthma with additional evidence from studies of workers who have exposure to cleaning chemicals”."

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Stomach Bug Appears To Protect Kids From Asthma

Stomach Bug Appears To Protect Kids From Asthma, Says New Study: "ScienceDaily (July 20, 2008) — A long-time microbial inhabitant of the human stomach may protect children from developing asthma, according to a new study among more than 7,000 subjects led by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that has co-existed with humans for at least 50,000 years, may lead to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Yet, kids between the ages of 3 and 13 are nearly 59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carry the bug, the researchers report...Asthma has been rising steadily for the past half-century. Meanwhile H. pylori, once nearly universal in humans, has been slowly disappearing from developed countries over the past century due to increased antibiotic use, which kills off the bacteria, and cleaner water and homes...The rise in asthma over the past decades, Dr. Blaser says, could stem from the fact that a stomach harboring H. pylori has a different immunological status from one lacking the bug. When H. pylori is present, the stomach is lined with immune cells called regulatory T cells that control the body's response to invaders. Without these cells, a child can be more sensitive to allergens..."Our hypothesis is that if you have Helicobacter you have a greater population of regulatory T-cells that are setting a higher threshold for sensitization," Dr. Blaser explains. "For example, if a child doesn't have Helicobacter and has contact with two or three cockroaches, he may get sensitized to them. But if Helicobacter is directing the immune response, then even if a child comes into contact with many cockroaches he may not get sensitized because his immune system is more tolerant."...In other words, the presence of the bacteria in the stomach may influence how a child's immune system develops: if a child does not encounter Helicobacter early on, the immune system may not learn how to regulate a response to allergens. Therefore, the child may be more likely to mount the kinds of inflammatory responses that trigger asthma..."

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Aspirin use may prevent asthma

Aspirin use may prevent asthma, study finds - Yahoo! News:
2008.03.12
"...women who took a small dose of aspirin -- 100 mg every other day -- were 10 percent less likely to develop asthma over 10 years than women given placebos...Kurth's team studied 37,000 female healthcare professionals taking part in a study called the Women's Health Study. All were aged 45 and above, and had no serious illness, allergy or asthma at the start of the study...Women who were obese, with a body mass index of 30 or above, got no benefit from aspirin..."The effect of aspirin on adult-onset asthma was not significantly modified by age, smoking status, exercise levels, postmenopausal hormone use or randomized vitamin E assignment,"...

Aspirin can affect compounds involved in inflammation and the hyper-response of airways that is seen in asthma.

The researchers noted that between 4 percent and 11 percent of patients with asthma have an acute response to aspirin."

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Choline, An Alternative Therapy For Asthma

Choline, An Alternative Therapy For Asthma - Medical News Today
2007.09.28
"...Choline treatment inhibits the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and eosinophilic inflammation in the lungs. This reduction of AHR is accompanied by a reduction in immunoglobulin E antibody (IgE) and other inflammatory parameters like type 2 T-helper cell (Th2) cytokines, in a manner comparable with current therapy of asthma. Choline treatment also downregulates mucus production and prevents airway obstruction...Choline supplementation increases membrane phosphatidyl choline and thereby decreases the mediator release from human basophils... The results of the present study are encouraging, as choline therapy may enable to substitute or reduce the dosage and side effects of steroid therapy in asthma."

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The miracle of vitamin D

I had been working on an entry showing how vitamin D seems to help prevent and sometimes fight a surprisingly large number of diseases. Well I can stop because at QualityCounts (excellent anti-aging/health blog) Bernard Hess has listed the current research on Vitamin D.

See if you don't read the list and want to get some safe sun time tomorrow, or at least pop some D3.

Here's a short list of health disorders vitamin d can either help prevent or fight:

Cancers (so many cancers - refer to the QualityCounts link above)
Diabetes
Heart Disease
Osteoporosis
Hypertension
Obesity
Shortened Telomeres
Macular Disease
Weak Immune System
Multiple Sclerosis MS
Chronic Fatigue
Fibromyalgia
Stress Fractures
Poor Physical Performance (weakened muscles)
Asthma
Tuberculosis
Gum Disease
Depression
Arthritis

Hey the list goes on and on. It's truly amazing and I hope the health care field wakes up to this. A short while ago my wife, who runs most mornings and gets tan without burning, was chastised by our GP for the tan. I just looked at him at amazement and knew it was time for another doctor. He's older and obviously does not keep up with research (in my experience most doctors shamefully do not - remember how long it took for most GP's to recognize the H. Pylori connection to ulcers?). The general chastising over a tan might have been justified two decades ago. A more educated GP would first ask how the tan was acquired and then if the tan was acquired through burns would express concern and offer advice - including D3 supplementation. It's about time to qualify tans and recognize that some tans can be an indicator of a healthy lifestyle.

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Infants and Antibiotics: Asthma Risk?

Link Between Antibiotic Use by Infants and Development of Asthma WebMD 6/11/07 "Infants who receive antibiotics in their first year of life are more likely to develop asthma by age 7, and multiple courses of the drugs boost the risk more..."In children receiving five or more courses of antibiotics in the first year, the risk of asthma was 1.5 times more likely than in children getting no antibiotics [during their first year]," study researcher Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD..."The link between antibiotics and asthma was seen in children born to mothers without asthma, who are considered at low risk," ...the study shows having a dog in the household while the child is a baby confers a protective effect...Dogs bring in different germs," she says. And that could strengthen a child's immunity...cats didn't offer the same effect, she says, and may actually boost risk, although the evidence for that in the study was weak...speculates that because antibiotics can kill off the microflora (natural bacteria) in your intestinal tract, "it may change your immune system, making you more vulnerable to developing asthma."...asthma is a complex disease. "It's also genetic. We've identified one factor." But many factors underlie the condition...if your child does need an antibiotic, you can ask your child's doctor if it is possible to use a narrow-spectrum antibiotic rather than a broad-spectrum (effective against a wider range of bacteria) cephalosporin (a class of antibiotics). In her study, she also found that broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotics (such as Ceftin and Cefzil) boosted the risk of getting asthma more than other antibiotics..."

The evidence for hygeine hypothesis of the immune system grows. One of the criticisms of this hypothesis has been that it cannot explain the raising rates of asthma in inner city kids. Maybe now it can, in part.

ScienceDaily on this same topic back in 2003. BBC on this in 2006.


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Eating Apples And Fish During Pregnancy May Protect Against Childhood Asthma And Allergies

Eating Apples And Fish During Pregnancy May Protect Against Childhood Asthma And Allergies ScienceDaily 5/21/07 "...the children of mothers who ate the most apples were less likely to ever have wheezed or have doctor-confirmed asthma at the age of 5 years, compared to children of mothers who had the lowest apple consumption. Children of mothers who ate fish once or more a week were less likely to have had eczema than children of mothers who never ate fish...The study did not find any protective effect against asthma or allergic diseases from many other foods, including vegetables, fruit juice, citrus or kiwi fruit, whole grain products, fat from dairy products or margarine or other low-fat spreads...Willers concludes that at least until age 5, a mother's diet during pregnancy might be more influential on a child's respiratory health than the child's own diet. She notes that further study of this group of children will be needed to see whether the association with the mothers' diet declines in older children, and if mothers' and their childrens' diets interact in older children...Willers suggests that the beneficial effect of apples may come from powerful antioxidants called flavonoids, while fish's protective effect may come from omega-3 fatty acids, which other studies have suggested have a protective effect on the heart and may have a protective effect in asthma..."

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H. pylori linked to asthma prevention and other benefits

A New Study Links A Stomach Microbe To Asthma Prevention ScienceDaily 4/23/07 "The stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach cancer and peptic ulcers, may not be all bad. According to a new study, it may help protect kids from asthma...The study, based on an analysis of a health survey of 7,663 adults, showed that a virulent strain of H. pylori was especially associated with being asthma-free before the age of 15. People who carry the strain were 40 percent less likely to have had asthma at an early age than those who didn't carry the strain. The study also found that the microbe was associated with protection against ragweed and other allergies due to pollens and molds particularly among younger adults..."These properties point toward a much more complex view of the organism--not just as ulcer-pathogen or cancer-pathogen, but as an organism that has its costs and benefits to us," says Dr. Blaser. "The relative costs and benefits clearly differ among individuals...H. pylori lives in the mucous layer lining the stomach where it persists for decades. It is acquired usually before the age of 10, and is transmitted mainly in families. Dr. Blaser's previous studies have confirmed the bacterium's link to stomach cancer and elucidated genes associated with its virulence, particularly a gene called cagA...Over recent years, Dr. Blaser began to suspect that the organism, the dominant bacteria in the stomach, may play a role in human health as well as disease. This observation, he says, is consistent with a theory called the hygiene hypothesis. It suggests that exposure to microbial infections in early childhood prevents or diminishes the development of allergies and asthma...H. pylori may protect against diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), "

Well this muddies the waters on H. pylori. A very interesting article - far more at ScienceDaily - more than I can include in a "summary."

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Vitamin D in pregnancy might reduce childhood asthma

Vitamin D in pregnancy may reduce childhood wheeze Reuters/Yahoo!News 3/21/07 "Mothers in the top 25 percent of vitamin D were 61-percent less likely to have a child with recurrent wheeze compared with those in the lowest 25 percent.
For each 100-IU increase in vitamin D, the risk of having a child with recurrent wheeze fell by 19 percent...This benefit was noted whether the vitamin D came from supplements or the diet...In the second study...Compared with the group with the lowest vitamin D levels, women with the highest levels of vitamin D had a 52-percent reduced risk of wheeze and a 65-percent reduced risk of wheeze in the previous year. Vitamin D levels were also associated with reductions in bronchodilator response, which is aggravated in asthma..."Our results are of great public health significance because they could lead to relatively low cost interventions of vitamin D supplementation that would have a large effect on the future prevalence of asthma in children," "

AJCN abstract

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Aspirin 'stops asthma developing'

Taking an aspirin every other day may be a way for adults to avoid developing asthma BBC News 1/15/07 "A US study of 22,000 people found the painkiller reduced the risk of being diagnosed with asthma by 22%, possibly by acting against inflammation...Experts said it might shed light on the reasons for adult-onset asthma, but queried how useful it would be to use aspirin as a means of intervention. Aspirin can trigger asthma attacks among those with the condition...They do not imply that aspirin improves symptoms in patients with asthma. "Indeed, aspirin can cause severe bronchospasm in some patients who have asthma." " (Lead researcher Dr Tobias Kurth)

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Salt reduction may have asthma benefits

Reducing salt intake may affect asthma severity NutraIngredients.com 1/5/07 "The authors of the new review, Timothy Mickleborough from Indiana University and Andrew Fogarty from the University of Nottingham, analyse both epidemiological and clinical evidence and conclude that, collectively, increased salt intake may increase the severity of asthma for people with the disease..."Collectively, the studies to date investigating the potential relationship between dietary sodium and the severity of asthma or airway hyper-responsiveness have provided support for the hypothesis that increased dietary intake of sodium may increase the severity of disease in those with asthma," ..."For several reasons previous research has shown that eating lots of fresh foods can help to reduce symptoms in some people with asthma and we also know that many processed foods contain high levels of salt. With this in mind we would encourage people with asthma to eat a healthy diet of fresh foods that are likely to contain lower levels of salt.""

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