27 December, 2017

Silvia Colicino was interviewed by both the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail newspapers at the BTS Winter Meeting 2017, where she presented her findings as a member of the STELAR research team. 

The study examined 20,000 children of five different age groups – based in Manchester, Bristol, Kent, the Isle of Wight and Aberdeen – including some who experienced wheezing when very young.

The researchers aimed to identify which risk factors might identify that a child who wheezed when very young might later be likely to develop asthma, in order to build a predictive tool. 

They found, for example, that some are less likely to develop asthma later in life if they have had a dog when very young.   Silvia thinks this could be because dogs live outside more, therefore get dirtier more and expose children to bacteria early on, which helps their immune system to protect against allergies.

The study also examined other factors, such as exposure to house dust mites and cats; having a diagnosis of asthma and/or hay fever by age of five; suffering from eczema; and having a history of parental allergies.

As Silvia said: “Our predictive method performed well and has an overall accuracy of around 80 per cent."  Further research is to follow on this fascinating topic. 

• A summary of the research project can be seen here (also, an overview of our research, including Silvia's, be seen here).
• Click on the links to see the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail’s articles.