New York – Australian researchers have done a study that shows more than 80 per cent of asthmatic teenagers also have allergies. This is a larger proportion of allergic asthmatics in the teen years than in children and is considerably higher than the percentage in adult asthmatics.
Senior researcher Dr Patrick Holt said that the findings show that allergies have a central role in driving disease development in asthmatics during their teen years. Holt stressed that there is a definite relationship between the severity of the allergy and the severity of asthma for teenagers.
The research was published in the September issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The researchers looked at almost 1400 teenagers aged 14. Of the study participants, about 60 per cent had allergies, with 10 per cent having asthma.
However, of the teens with asthma, 81 per cent also had allergies.
Asthma risk variables for teens included:
- Intensity of the allergy. The worse the allergy was, the more likely the individual also had asthma.
- Specific IgE and eosinophil levels. Where these levels were elevated, there was a greater incidence of asthma. This makes sense as IgE and eosinophil levels are indicators of allergy.
- TH2- independent biomarkers. If subjects had allergies, then the levels of TH2-independent biomarkers, such as interferon-gamma, IL-10 and IL-12 indicated greater risks.
Holt said that asthma is being driven by allergies interacting with inflammation driven by TH2-independent inflammatory processes.
The main message for professionals and parents alike is that controlling allergies is the easiest and safest target for treatment in teens. This approach means not only immediate symptom relief but also a better chance to avoid the development and increasing severity of asthma. In other words, allergy control comes first, and this will give the best long-term outcome.
Source: Reuters Health
