Contributing factors to the development of childhood asthma: working toward risk minimization

George V Guibas, Spyridon Megremis, Peter West, Nikolaos G Papadopoulos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, and considerable research has been undertaken to find ways to prevent its development and reduce its prevalence. For such interventions to be successful, risk factors for asthma emergence should be identified and clearly defined. Data are robust for some of them, including atopy, viral infections and exposure to airborne irritants, whereas it is less conclusive for others, such as aeroallergen exposure and bacterial infections. Several interventions for asthma prevention, including avoidance and pharmacotherapy, have been attempted. However, most of them have furnished equivocal results. Various issues hinder the establishment of risk factors for asthma development and reduce the effectiveness of interventions, including the complexity of the disease and the fluidity of the developing systems in childhood. In this review, we revisit the evidence on pediatric asthma risk factors and prevention and discuss issues that perplex this field.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)721-735
Number of pages14
JournalExpert review of clinical immunology
Volume6
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2015

Keywords

  • asthma, avoidance, interventions, pharmacotherapy, prevention, risk factors

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Contributing factors to the development of childhood asthma: working toward risk minimization'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this