Title Asthma and Wheezing in the First Six Years of Life. Publication date 950119. In a prospective study, we investigated the factors affecting wheezing before the age of three years and their relation to wheezing at six years of age. The majority of infants with wheezing have transient conditions associated with diminished airway function at birth and do not have increased risks of asthma or allergies later in life. In a substantial minority of infants, however, wheezing episodes are probably related to a predisposition to asthma.
Many infants have episodes of wheezing associated with viral respiratory illnesses.
Neither the pathogenesis of these episodes nor their relation to asthma has been completely elucidated. The children we studied were enrolled as newborns between May 1980 and October 1984 in the Tucson Children's Respiratory Study. Their parents were patients of Group Health Medical Associates, a large health maintenance organization in Tucson, Arizona, and were contacted shortly after their children were born. Informed consent was obtained from the parents of 1246 newborns. Copyright 1995 by the Massachusetts Medical Society.