New Study Reveals Why Fall-Born People may have Asthma (like me)

I've always wondered why I was the only one in my family to develop Asthma and now I have a better idea - my birthdate. I noticed that despite being in decent shape, I could get winded by going up one set of stairs carrying something. Odd, I thought, because when I do regulated treadmill running, it doesn't bother me. But sudden exercise, or breathing in cold air makes me gasp. - Rob

From Today's Nashville Tennessean Newspaper (Jan. 5, 2009)
Fall birthday may raise asthma risk
VUMC looks at link to cold, flu season
NASHVILLE -Children suffering from asthma may now be able to look to their birthdays to find out why.
Those born on the brink of cold and flu season have a higher risk of developing asthma than children born any other time of year, according to new research out of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.Because infants are more susceptible to illnesses than older children, and because their lungs are not fully formed until age 2, a winter respiratory virus could damage the lungs and immune system and make children more likely to develop asthma, doctors say.
Christison participated in the Tennessee Asthma Bronchiolitis Study, which analyzed birth and medical records of more than 95,000 children and their mothers. Children were followed from the time they were in the womb up through age 6.
Those children who were born in the four months before the peak of cold and flu season — with birthdays typically from late August through November — had up to a 30 percent increased risk of developing asthma, said Dr. Tina Hartert, associate professor of Medicine, Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and director of the Center for Asthma Research at Vanderbilt.
Not all children born in those months were infected with a winter respiratory virus in their infancy. But for the ones who were, 25 percent to 40 percent went on to develop asthma.
Doctors at Vanderbilt say they still believe there also is a strong genetic link. But doctors hope that if they combat these winter viruses, they can reduce childhood asthma. (Credit: Wordpress.com:This picture is of a regular bronchi (on the right) and on the left is a bronchi that has asthma.)