The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7251 p742
31 May 2003

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First year of life critical in asthma

Increased risk of asthma is associated with environmental exposure to asthma triggers in the first year of life, but not at older ages, according to findings from the Children's Health Study presented at the American Thoracic Society conference.

The parents of over 700 children were interviewed and researchers found that exposure to herbicides during infancy was associated with a 4.6-fold increased risk in asthma and exposure to pesticides with a 2.4-fold increase. Exposure to cockroaches, wood or oil smoke, farm crops and animals was also implicated. According to Dr Frank Gilliland, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in the first year of life, children are particularly likely to become sensitised to asthma triggers. "Infants are different from older children or adults ... their respiratory rates are higher, and their ability to metabolise and excrete materials from the environment is different," he explained.

The Journal attended the American Thoracic Society's 99th international conference in Seattle, Washington, courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline