Scientists may be close to using genetic markers to predict the onset of asthma and if when children are likely to grow out of it.
This information comes from a new study led by researchers from Duke University in North Carolina.
First, the scientists compiled a genetic risk profile using data from GABRIEL Consortium. This was a massive genome-wide association study of asthma, which included more than 26,000 subjects. Using the profiles derived with asthma specific health data, they made comparisons to a second database.
This second study, which took place in New Zealand, followed 1,000 individuals through their first 40 years of life. Called the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, it also took detailed records of asthma and related traits.
Using their profile to score genetic risk, the Duke University scientists determined that those with higher risk profiles not only developed asthma earlier but were also more likely to carry it into adulthood. They also had more severe asthma and missed more work and school days due to the condition than those who who had low risk profiles.Additionally, they were more frequently admitted to the hospital for symptoms.
In a fact sheet on the study, lead author Daniel Belsky wrote, "Genetic risk assessments might be able to predict which childhood-onset asthma cases remit and which become life-course-persistent, who might develop impaired lung function." He also added, however, "these predictions are not sufficiently sensitive or specific to support immediate clinical translation."
Although this data isn't ready to used on patients yet, there is hope this will lend to a better understanding of asthma and why it develops at all. For more asthma and allergy news, keep reading Allergybegone.com
