High levels of IgE in the umbilical cord blood of a newborn indicate an increased risk of allergies and asthma during childhood.
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At 4 years, about 20 per cent of the subjects had allergies and by 10 years of age this had risen to 27 per cent. Elevated cord-blood IgE levels approximately doubled the risk of allergies at both 4 and 10 years of age. Rates of asthma ranged from 10 per cent at age 1 and 2 to 15 per cent at the age of 4 years. Cord-blood IgE levels were not linked to asthma risk at ages 1, 2 or 4, but were associated with a 66 per cent increased risk at the age of 10 years.
The lack of significance of cord (blood) IgE as a risk factor for asthma early in life may be due to the gradual development of asthma as the children grow and the existence of a late onset variety of asthma.
October 2004
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