Children born in the fall at an increased asthma risk

Children who are born in the fall are at an increased risk for asthma.

According to a new study from Taiwanese researchers, the month a child is born has a direct affect on whether or not they develop childhood asthma. The lowest prevalence of asthma was found in children who were born in the spring, with the smallest percentage of infected kids – just over 7 percent – in the month of May. The highest rate of asthma – around 11 percent – was found in children born throughout October. The markers of allergies all followed a similar seasonal pattern, adding significance to this study.

The medical records of over 100,000 children aged 7 to 15 were studied in the research from Yuanpei University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The data was collected in 2010 and each child was selected for the study if they had at least two hospital visits or one hospital admission for symptoms of either bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis or allergic rhinitis.

The researchers found that when the kids were grouped by seasonal birthdays a clear pattern emerged. Those that were born between August and October had a 13 percent higher rate of asthma than those who were born between February and April.

When trying to asses their findings in the study, lead researcher Wei-Pin Chang and colleagues were able to note a couple of different reasons those born in autumn were at a higher risk for developing allergies and asthma. Cold temperatures are known to induce hypersecretion from cells in the respiratory system – causing restricted breathing – and children born in the fall are exposed to the colder temperatures in their first months of life. Additionally, the asthma or allergies could be caused by an early viral infection and respiratory diseases peak between July and October.

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