from American Thoracic Society
It seems that more and more children are developing peanut allergies and more and more children are developing asthma. Many of the respiratory symptoms are similar—shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing. But few have studied the connection between peanut allergy and childhood asthma. Researchers at Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo reviewed records of one thousand five hundred children from the pulmonary clinic there. Almost one-half had been tested for allergy to peanuts. From that group, approximately twenty-two percent tested positive for peanut sensitivity. However, more than one-half of the parents of these asthmatic children did not suspect any sensitivity to peanuts. Researchers concluded to the American Thoracic Society that a child with asthma might benefit from a test for peanut sensitivity.