Youngsters with asthma are at risk of lung disease

YOUNgSTERS who suffer from childhood asthma are six times more at risk of developing serious lung disease, a groundbreaking study has revealed.

And those who have wheezy bronchitis are almost twice as likely to go on to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COpD) as adults.

Scientists from Aberdeen University, who studied a group of children for more than fifty years, found that the condition had a clear association with breathing problems in the early years.

In the UK, approximately 900,000 people have diagnosed COpD, with an estimated additional 2million people who are undiagnosed.

The condition is the fifth leading cause of death, accounting for approximately 30,000 deaths annually, and is a leading cause of emergency hospitalisation.

previously, it had been claimed that nine out of ten deaths from COpD – an umbrella term for a range of serious lung conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema – were linked to smoking.

It can cause sufferers breathlessness and difficulty in climbing stairs or playing sports. There is no cure. Scots are disproportionately affected by the condition.

Research fellow Dr Nara Tagiyeva, of Royal Aberdeen Children’s hospital, and the report’s lead author, wrote: ‘This study has shown for the first time that childhood wheezy bronchitis/virusassociated wheeze is associated with an increased risk of COpD and reduced lung function in the seventh decade.

‘This 50-year cohort study has followed children to the oldest age of any of the existing cohorts to date. This finding should lead to a re-evaluation of the advice given to children with wheezy bronchitis/ virus-associated wheeze and their parents, of the increased risk of COpD and the need to avoid additional risk factors such as smoking. Later-life monitoring of ventilatory function may be appropriate.’

The study followed 330 schoolchildren aged between 10 and 15, from 1964 to 2014, recruited from the Aberdeen WhEASE (What happens Eventually to Asthmatic children: Sociologically and Epidemiologically) study.

The researchers found that ‘childhood asthma was associated with an increased risk of COpD – odds ratio, 6.37, as was childhood wheezy bronchitis – odds ratio 1.8’.

The report added: ‘The COpD risk increased with childhood asthma, and wheezy bronchitis was associated with reduced FEV1 [breathing function] that was evident by the fifth decade.’

It also found children with asthma were also more likely to develop COpD in their 30s.

The report said the study gives: ‘Important insights into the natural history of obstructed lung function from childhood to later life.

‘Findings suggest that childhood wheezy bronchitis/virus-associated wheeze and COpD may be closely associated, because both are the consequence of an underlying abnormality of airway development characterized by reduced ventilatory function in early life and possibly accelerated ventilatory function decline in later life.’

The report, published in the American Journal of Respiratory

‘The key advice is stop smoking’

and Critical Care Medicine, added: ‘A further novel finding was that adults who developed wheezing illness between the ages of 16 and 46 were at increased risk of COpD from the fifth decade onward because of the increased rate of FEV1 decline.

‘Our observations support the paradigm that childhood asthma is linked to COpD by an airway developmental abnormality present from childhood.’

Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said: ‘One in ten children have asthma in the UK and if you are a parent the key piece of advice to take from this research is to not start smoking, and if you do already then to find ways to quit.

‘Long term studies like this are the only way to find out the impact asthma has throughout life and much more investment in this type of research is needed.’

In COpD, the airways are narrowed due to a variety of causes, so the air breathed in cannot flow freely in or out of the lungs.

Conditions under the heading of COpD can include: chronic bronchitis, where the lining of the bronchi is irritated and inflamed and produces excess mucus which blocks the airways; emphysema, which damages the alveoli and the lung’s ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream; and lung damage, which is caused by chronic asthma.

greater glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire are the areas in the UK most affected by COpD – which may be related to the high proportion of smokers in Scotland.

Ayrshire and Arran and Lothian also rank highly nationally.