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Throat clearing as first sign of asthma

Recent research suggests that the first sign of asthma in children may be simple throat-clearing.

Throat clearing as first sign of asthma

Recent research suggests that the first sign of asthma in children may be simple throat-clearing.To determine whether throat clearing was a sign of early asthma, the researchers from the University of Crete looked at questionnaires given to the parents of 2,609 children aged between three and five years old who attended a day care centre. The questionnaires asked parents about typical symptoms of asthma and included one additional query: "does your child have a habit of clearing his or her throat often?"It was found that almost 18 percent of the children had been diagnosed with asthma during the previous year, and another 24 percent had been told they had the disease prior to the previous year. Parents of 106 children said they were frequent throat clearers, 61 of whom had never been diagnosed with asthma nor had any symptoms of the condition. To test whether these supposedly asthma-free children did, in fact, have the disease, the researchers measured lung function in 30 of the youngsters old enough to perform the test. This test revealed that these children, on average, had reduced lung function. After doctors gave them treatment for asthma, however, both their throat clearing and lung function improved. Observing an improvement in symptoms after receiving asthma medication was consistent with the diagnosis of clinically unrecognised asthma.

The researchers explained that children with asthma have sensitive airways that react poorly to different stimulants. In many children, this exposure leads to coughing or wheezing . But in others with a less severe form of the condition, their reaction is not strong enough to cause a cough or wheeze, and exposure to a stimulant may result in simple throat clearing. According to the American Lung Association, asthma is the leading serious, chronic illness in childhood, diagnosed in at least 7.7 million people younger than 18 in the US alone.The researchers suggested that parents of a child who constantly clears his throat for no obvious reason should consider getting the child tested for asthma, even if he has no other symptoms of the condition. Children with asthma do better if they are treated earlier rather than later and it was noted that doctors who don't ask about throat clearing symptoms may miss some early cases of the condition

The New England Journal of Medicine , April 2003; Vol. 348


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