Childhood Factors May Contribute to COPD Risk

Childhood factors such as asthma, maternal smoking, bronchitis, allergic rhinitis, and eczema predisposed children to lung function decline and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) as adults, according to 2 recent studies. Risks might be minimized by reducing maternal smoking, encouraging immunizations, having good asthma control, and avoiding smoking, researchers said.

Both studies were published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

One study said it was unique because it is the first to track lung function from childhood to the sixth decade in a large population sample.1 Researchers followed 8583 participants in the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study and investigated mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) trajectories from age 7 to age 53. Lung function measurements were taken at ages 7, 13, 18, 45, 50, and 53.

By adulthood, most COPD cases were clustered in participants whose FEV1 fell into these categories: early below average, accelerated decline FEV1, below average FEV1, and persistently low FEV1.

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