QUICK STUDY : A weekly digest of new research on major health topics

ASTHMA

Mother's vitamin E level seems to affect risk for children.

· THE QUESTION As asthma has become considerably more common, some people believe that a lack of vitamins or minerals -- especially during early life -- may influence the development of the breathing disorder. Does their theory hold up?

· THIS STUDY analyzed diet and medical data on 1,253 pregnant women and their children. At 5 years old, about 12 percent of the children had been diagnosed with asthma. Children whose mothers had taken in the lowest amounts of vitamin E while pregnant were five times more likely to have asthma than were children whose mothers had registered the highest levels of the nutrient. The children's intake of vitamin E did not affect whether they had asthma.

· WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Pregnant women. Women, pregnant or not, are advised to consume at least 22 milligrams daily of vitamin E, which is found in vegetable oils, nuts, leafy green vegetables and fortified cereals.

· CAVEATS Vitamin E levels were determined from a combination of blood tests and the participants' recall of foods eaten. The authors theorized that a woman's vitamin E intake during pregnancy "could modulate the development of asthma by influencing fetal airway development."

· FIND THIS STUDY Sept. 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine; abstract available online at http://www.atsjournals.org .

· LEARN MORE ABOUT asthma at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health and http://www.aafa.org .