Peanut Allergy Can Cause More Severe Asthma
A new study suggests that children and teenagers that have peanut allergies might have more-severe asthma attacks.
According to the study, out of the 160 5-to 18-year-olds with asthma studied, 46 with peanut allergies had more hospitalizations for asthma exacerbations than children without the food allergy. Those children also had higher rates of treatment with oral corticosteroids.
Twenty-three percent of the children and teens with peanut allergy had been hospitalized for asthma after the age of three, compared to 16 percent of those without peanut allergy.
According to lead researcher Dr. Alyson Simpson of Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, when it came to oral steroids, only 28 percent of kids with peanut allergy never needed treatment after age three. That compared to 37 percent among those without the allergy.
When the researchers accounted for family history of asthma and other allergies the children had, peanut allergy remained linked to higher risks of hospitalizations and oral steroid use.
Simpson said in an interview with Reuters Health that the goal in children’s asthma care is to avoid hospitalization and oral steroids whenever possible.Â
She said that parents who have children suffering from both asthma and peanut allergy should be sure to work with their child’s doctor to keep the asthma under control. This could involve watching kids’ exposure to their particular asthma triggers, trying to help them maintain a healthy weight and also often giving them medications that prevent asthma attacks.
According to Simpson, it is not sure why patients with peanut allergy tended to have more problems with asthma control. The research showed an association between peanut allergy and more asthma exacerbations, however it did not prove that food allergy is the cause.
"The exact link is still being studied," Simpson said.
Simpson and her colleagues wrote in the Journal of Pediatrics that understanding the connection is important, as recent studies suggest that both peanut allergy and asthma are on the rise among children.
According to the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology, over one percent of U.S. children have peanut allergy, while about nine percent have asthma.
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