Children who are exposed to violence during their childhood are more likely to develop asthma, according to a new study carried out by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Researchers have discovered that Puerto Rican children who have their wellbeing affected by growing up in violent surroundings are more likely to have asthma. This has been linked to changes in a certain gene that can be particularly associated with stress.
This is the first time that there have ever been links made between stress, asthma and a variation in a gene, and the study was published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
It is already widely known that asthma rates are higher than average in Puerto Rican children, affecting the wellness of children who are actually living on the island of Puerto Rico or are residents in the United States. Researchers have been studying these children with much interest, in an attempt to find out why asthma rates should be elevated amongst this section of the population.
A previous project by the same researchers, carried out with Puerto Ricans discovered that psychosocial stress amongst adult Puerto Ricans appeared to translate into increased levels of asthma in their children. A recent study at the University of California then uncovered the fact that childhood trauma can actually cause changes to a certain gene that is involved in stress response. Intrigued by this discovery, researchers set to work to find out if this could be the underlying cause behind why Puerto Rican children have higher levels of asthma.
Following extensive research, using a group of children who were divided into those who had diagnosed asthma/wheezing and those who did not, the group of scientists found that changes to this stress-related gene increased the chances of the respondent having asthma.
The cause of this stress was linked back to exposure to violence, showing that cutting children’s exposure to violence could, in theory, reduce their chances of getting asthma.
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