A new study has discovered a way of using genetic testing to determine whether patients with asthma are likely to outgrow the condition, or if they will continue to experience symptoms as they grow older. The report, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, analysed data from a study spanning 40 years. Researchers discovered that children with asthma and higher risk scored including a number of genetic variants associated with asthma were more than 36 percent more likely to develop a life-long condition, whereas those with a lower genetic risk were not. Nearly half of all children with asthma will grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood. There are currently no tests to predict which children will do so, however. This new report could change that and identify those who will suffer with the chronic lung disease for life.
Recent genetic studies have found that several variants, including single nucleotide polymorphisms and SNPs, carry a small increased risk of asthma. In this study, researchers wanted to see whether these genetic risks are associated with the onset or severity of asthma, as well as the disruptions to daily life. The findings of the study showed that those with a higher genetic risk score were also more likely to develop atopic, or allergic, asthma, as well as impaired lung function – this is known as airway hyper-responsiveness, or incompletely reversible airflow obstruction. These individuals are more likely to miss school or work, and have an increased risk of hospitalisation due to asthma than those with a lower genetic risk. Researchers are keen to stress that this predictive value of the genotype score was independent of family history. Those with symptoms of asthma are urged to seek medical advice in order to determine if they have the condition.
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