Fresh help for doctors to chart childhood asthma

Published on Monday 14 September 2009 22:15

A NEW chart to help doctors decide if a child is at risk of asthma has been developed by British experts.

The tool, which draws on data from more than 10,000 children across 11 countries, will help doctors assess whether a child has normal lung function or falls below the average for their age.

It will primarily be used in hospitals on youngsters aged three to seven who have a family history of asthma or allergies that put them at risk from the condition. More than five million people in the UK have asthma, including more than a million children.

It is difficult to diagnose asthma in young children because some have a "wheeze" which then goes away as they get older and symptoms differ greatly from child to child in this age group.

The new tool will be used in conjunction with the spirometry test, which measures lung capacity and potential weakness, and which can indicate if a child is likely to develop asthma.

Doctors can then use the chart to monitor the effect of any treatment given.

The development of the chart, by researchers at University College London, has been funded by the charity Asthma UK.

Dr Elaine Vickers of the charity said: "Receiving targeted treatment at an early stage could limit the severity of symptoms later on, making a massive difference to quality of life."