Pulmonary Function In Adolescents Research Articles

Is Being Breastfed as an Infant Associated with Adult Pulmonary Function?

Objective: Breastfeeding reduces the risk of asthma and respiratory infections in infants. Since respiratory infections are associated with reduced pulmonary function in adolescents, pulmonary function impairment may be carried into adulthood. Our aim was to determine whether a history of having been breastfed as an infant is a determinant of adult pulmonary function.Methods: We analyzed data from a general population sample of residents of Erie and Niagara Counties between September 1995 and December 1999. We calculated forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) prediction equations and used multiple linear regression models to study the association between having been breastfed as an infant and percentage predicted FEV1 (FEV1%) and percentage predicted FVC (FVC%) after adjustment for covariates.Results: Of 2305 subjects, 62% reported having been breastfed. After controlling for age, gender, weight, smoking status, pack-years of smoking, eosinophil counts and dietary factors, there was no association between having been breastfed (yes/no) and FEV1% or FVC% (regression coefficients 0.0049, p = 0.46 and 0.0055, p = 0.43, respectively).Conclusions: We did not find a strong or consistent association between having been breastfed as an infant and pulmonary function in adulthood.

Levels of House Dust Mite-Specific IgE and Cockroach-Specific IgE and Their Association With Lower Pulmonary Function in Taiwanese Children

Sensitization to an aeroallergen is known to diminish pulmonary function in young children and adults; however, it remains unclear whether it produces similar effects in adolescents. This study, therefore, examined the relationship between serum allergen-specific IgE levels and pulmonary function in adolescents. Middle-school children were invited for a physician's evaluation and pulmonary function test when not experiencing an asthma attack and for the determination of serum levels of specific IgE to common allergens. National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan. Middle-school children in southern Taiwan, who had completed both a nationally administered Chinese version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and a pulmonary function test in October 1996. Forty-two then currently asthmatic children, 38 children with asthma in remission (no reported attack for > 12 months), and 69 children without asthma completed the study. Children with asthma had a significantly lower adjusted forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF(25-75%)) and FEV(1)/FVC than children without asthma. A greater percentage of children with asthma were more sensitized to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p), Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f), and German cockroach but not cat dander or dog dander. Children with asthma with Der f-specific IgE > 100 IU/mL, or cockroach-specific IgE > 0.7 IU/mL showed lower pulmonary function. No such association was found in children without asthma. Our findings suggest that sensitization to Der f and German cockroach was a critical factor for the lower pulmonary function observed in middle-school children with asthma.

Does Harrington Instrumentation Improve Pulmonary Function in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis?

Does Harrington Instrumentation Improve Pulmonary Function in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis?

Pulmonary function in adolescents with childhood asthma.

The aim of this study was to determine the pulmonary function in former and present asthmatics. We examined 77 persons aged 12-24 years, classified into four groups: 1) healthy subjects (controls) (n = 19), 2) former asthmatics (n = 19), 3) present mild asthmatics (n = 20), and 4) present severe asthmatics (n = 19). Although exhibiting no respiratory symptoms, former asthmatics had reduced airflow values measured by FEV1 (median (range) 89.7 (83-99) vs 101.4 (91-110)) and MEF25 (76.5 (68-94) vs 103.0 (97-124)), as compared with controls. Furthermore, former asthmatics had significantly increased PEF variability, as compared with controls, whereas no significant differences were found in static lung parameters, i.e. total lung capacity and residual volume, as compared with controls. In conclusion, former asthmatics, although now exhibiting no respiratory symptoms, were found to have obstructive airflow limitation, increased bronchial responsiveness, and normal lung volumes.

Pulmonary function in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.

Two groups of patients, with an average age of 15 years, have been studied to establish the improvement in pulmonary function after surgical correction in relation to the amount of correction achieved. The first group of 33 patients were treated surgically; an average Cobb angle of 72 degrees was reduced to 32.6 degrees. The second group of 30 patients with an average Cobb angle of 33 degrees were not operated on. Results of tests undertaken have shown that pulmonary function was improved by surgical correction, but the improvement does not match the degree of correction achieved. Statistical analysis of the two groups shows a difference in cardiopulmonary function to the advantage of those who were not operated on. This suggests that there is partial irreversibility of ventilation and perfusion in those who are treated surgically.

Pulmonary function in adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis.

Spirometric indices, lung volumes, maximum voluntary ventilation, and maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures were measured in 44 adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis (spinal curvature less than 30 degrees). All were symptom free, but six (13.6%) showed a restrictive defect with forced vital capacity less than 80% of predicted. In 12 subjects (27.3%) maximum voluntary ventilation was reduced to less than 80% of predicted normal. Forced vital capacity was significantly correlated with maximum inspiratory pressure and with maximum expiratory pressure, measures of respiratory muscle strength, but was not related to the degree of thoracic curvature. When maximum inspiratory pressure and forced vital capacity were corrected for differences in body size these variables remained positively correlated, most significantly in the girls. These data indicate that ventilatory function may be impaired in mild, idiopathic scoliosis and that the force developed by the respiratory muscles is a more important determinant of this impairment than the radiologically determined degree of spinal curvature.