Does chronic stress predict the development of asthma in pre-adolescents?

Excerpt

Pediatric asthma has risen over recent decades in developed countries, affecting almost 10% of children. Canada ranks near the top of the list of countries with high rates of asthma and allergic diseases. Predicting which children will develop asthma remains a challenge, but both higher weight and stress may play a role. An association between obesity and asthma has been reported in previous studies among adolescents and school-age children; this connection is more apparent in girls. Children exposed to maternal stress in early life are more likely to develop asthma. If the stress exposure becomes chronic and the body is unable to respond appropriately, allostatic load/overload (AL) can develop. AL is defined as the physical price paid by the body under chronic stress. To our knowledge, the impact of AL on the development of asthma in pre-adolescents has not been investigated. The overall aim of this research is to determine the influence of AL on the development of asthma. We hypothesize that (1) exposure to AL increases the risk of developing asthma in pre-adolescence, and (2) the contribution of each AL measure is not equal in predicting the development of asthma. …