NIH STUDY INVESTIGATES FACTORS AFFECTING ASTHMA WITH FREQUENT SYMPTOM FLARE UPS IN YOUNG CHILDREN

DURHAM, N.C., May 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Young children, ages 2 to 4 years, especially those with parental history of asthma, suffered the highest rates of asthma with recurrent exacerbations (ARE) over a nearly 30-year period studied in new research funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program (ECHO) at the National Institutes of Health.

"Describing the incidence rates of ARE across a large, diverse population of children is a critical first step for identifying potential risk factors and causes," explained Christine Johnson, PhD, MPH, an ECHO Program investigator at Henry Ford Health.

During this study, ECHO researchers looked at data from over 17,000 children between 1990 and 2017 from across the U.S. including Puerto Rico in order to learn which factors influenced the rates of childhood ARE—a subtype of asthma where children experience frequent, severe episodes of asthma. They found that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic Black children, children ages 2 to 4 years old, and children who lived in the Northeast and Midwest had the highest rates of ARE.

These findings suggest that different environmental and social factors may play a significant role in the onset of recurring asthma issues in children.

"Understanding these causes will help researchers determine how to best prevent ARE and associated asthma outcomes," said Rachel L. Miller, MD, an ECHO Program investigator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Drs. Miller and Johnson led this collaborative research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Miller, R. et al. Incidence Rates of Childhood Asthma with Recurrent Exacerbations in the U.S. Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.03.016

About ECHO: ECHO is a nationwide research program supported by the NIH. Launched in 2016, ECHO aims to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.

SOURCE NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program