Asthma Relapse Found in Many Young Adults

A new study has found that one-third of teenagers with a childhood history of asthma who no longer have symptoms at age 18 will have a recurrence of asthma symptoms by the time they are 26. The study was presented at the international conference of the American Thoracic Society in Seattle (WA, USA).

The study involved 1,037 young adults (to age 26) in New Zealand, who had detailed respiratory histories every two years until age 15, then one at 18, 21, and 26 years of age. Of this group, 176 had diagnosed asthma at ages 9, 11, 13, and 15. Of these, 68 had no asthma symptoms at age 18, but 16 (24%) had asthma symptoms when they were 21 and the symptoms persisted in eight of them until age 26. Of the 52 who had no symptoms at 21 years, eight reported symptoms at age 26. Thus, a total of 24 of the 68 (35%) with no asthma symptoms at age 18 experienced relapses by age 21 or 26.

Those who are at greatest risk of relapsing are young adults who are highly allergic or have bronchial hyper-responsiveness, which can be measured in a pulmonary function laboratory. However, only 26% of those who relapsed in the study were shown positive for bronchial hyper-responsiveness.

"It is likely that during adolescence, the asthma subsides to the point where airway inflammation is minimal and does not cause symptoms,” said lead researcher Robin Taylor, M.D., of the University of Otago School of Medicine in Dunedin (New Zealand). "Patients who have a relapse likely have had a change in environment that provokes airway inflammation to the point where asthma symptoms recur.” Dr. Taylor noted that the study focused on 18-year-olds because they are often being assessed medically for employment reasons.




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