The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-05-26
ASTHMA IN CHILDREN

Hercdity is m important prodis- posing cause of asthma. The asth'
 mn Itself Is not directly transmit ted from parent to child, but rnth. or Q peculiar constitutional sensi. tiyIty to certain foreign BubstnneeB which enter tho body by inhala' ton, by ingestion or by absorption, and produce Q characteristic TO. action called allergy. In one mem. ber of tho family this may mani- fest itself as m attack of hives or of giant hives (angioneurotle cd. emn); In another the reaction oe. CUTS as eczoma; in another it may bo hay ever; in another asthmn. Some such condition Is found in the family history in more than .thirds of all cases Of asthma.
 In Q striking number of cases the first allergie reaction, of what. ever type, in infancy occurs im- mediately after the first flooding of egg.white. Tn 04 cases of asthma in children under fifteen years of age the patients were found to bo sensitive to thes0 foods; egg-white, i3 cases; chicken, s easest eereal, i2 cases; milk, 10 eases; Ash, 10 cases; beef, 8 eases; nuts, ' cases; pea, { cases; potato, 2 cas- es; and case each of orange, choe. flower, etc. sensitivity Is deter. mined by applying a minute quan. tIty of the pure substance 10 q slight scratch on the skin: # the individual is sensitive to the sub. stance so applied, n characteristic wheal appears at the site Of inoc' ulation within m hour or two.
 The principal air-borne sun' stances to which asthmatic chil. dren are sensitive are house aust. ragweed pollen, feathers, animal dander, grass pollens, orris root cottonseed, kapok, SIX, etc. we told her Nov lg. 1929, tho story or the doctors child who had q way of getting an attack or asthma ev. cry time dad and mama took him to visit grand.nas place in the country-and they blamed 1t on n gentlemanly cat the boy played with in grama's barn. But eventu. ally they discovered the true caIse-silk. Had to remove every silk item they had in the house. including the coat mama usually wore when they drove out to grama's and some zippy nickties pop affected. When they removed silk from the child's environment he got along with only rare and mild attacks. Pretty hard to give everybody wearing silk the air, you know. Embarrassing, too, to ask the patients nurse to wear no SIX on duty.
 Food allergy in infancy tends to disappear spontaneously before the age of 10 years, But, alas, the inherited predisposition does not disappear, for 50 per cent of such children acquire or begin to man. fest allergy for air-borne sub. stances by the age of ten years, and another 25 per cent by the age of 25 years.
 The specific foreign substance is apparently produced by bacteria in a focus of infection in the up- per respiratory tract in some cases of asthma in children, especially chronic sinus infection in the up. per respiratory tract in some eases of asthma in children, especially chronic sinus infection. These children seem to be subject to overgrowth of lymphoid tissue tonsils and adenoids particularly. However, the actual results of sur gical removal of tonsils and ade- holds have been unsatisfactory so far as cure of the asthma Is con- cerned. Perhaps more effective treatment would be open air life. nudism, sunbaths, tanning, or even ultraviolet lamp exposures to pro vide the something that such chill dren need. And daily ration of good old cod liver oil to boot.