Blame Daddy for Childhood Asthma

Children whose fathers have a history ofasthma are at greater risk of developing airwayhyperresponsiveness (AHR). To assessthe potential father-child asthma connection,the researchers reviewed data on 1041 childrenbetween the ages of 5 and 12 yearsenrolled in the Childhood Asthma ManagementProgram. None of the participants hadsevere asthma.

In the 6 months prior to the 4-year study,which compared the long-term benefits of 3inhaler asthma treatments, all of the childrenhad manifested at least 1 asthma characteristic.To measure AHR severity, the childrencompleted a series of tests that calculated thepresence of methacholine in their bodies. Thechildren's parents completed family historyquestionnaires, and the children were testedtwice a year to assess the amount of airentering and leaving the lungs. The asthma-AHR parental connection appears to followthe paternal lineage.