Asthma: It Can Begin Before Birth, Study Finds

Childhood asthma may be predestined from the time a fetus is in the first trimester, according to a new study presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress earlier this month in London, UK.
“First trimester fetal size – a surrogate for fetal lung size – is relevant to symptoms of respiratory physiology through to 15 years of age,”  said lead researcher, Stephen Turner MD, who is a senior lecturer at The Institute of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen in the U.K. “These findings suggest that antenatal factors contribute to life-long respiratory wellbeing,” he added.....

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Scientists have found a way to predict whether babies will develop asthma or allergies

For a while now, it’s been clear to scientists that the collection of bacteria that dwells in our digestive tract plays a part in the way we break down food, respond to infections, and even our moods. But these associations have, so far, been just links, and not predictors.
Now, though, scientists have found that a particular pattern characterized by a lack of bacterial diversity in a baby’s gut microbiome can help predict whether or not she develops asthma or allergies later in life.....

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More Evidence Obesity Is Bigger Asthma Risk for Women

Having been overweight as a child seems to have an opposite opposite effect on controlling asthma in women than in men although researchers aren't sure why.
Growing up as an overweight girl raised the risk of asthma hospitalization in women, while in men being an underweight boy raised that risk.
A Danish study reported that overweight women until the age of 45 have a 39 percent increased risk of hospitalization for asthma if they had an above average BMI (body mass index) when they were between seven and 13 years old.....

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