WebMD Medical News Laura J. Martin, MD Aug. 2, 2011 -- Infants
raised in a home with moldy areas may be more likely to develop
childhood asthma. A new study shows that infants who lived in
moldy homes were nearly three times more likely to have
childhood asthma by age 7. "Early life exposure to mold seems to
play a critical role in childhood asthma development,"
researcher Tina Reponen, PhD, professor of environmental health
at the University of Cincinnati, says in a news release. "This
study should motivate expectant parents -- especially if they
have a family history of allergy or asthma -- to correct water
damage and reduce the mold burden in their homes to protect the
respiratory health of their children," Reponen says. In the
study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology,
researchers looked at factors associated with the risk of
developing childhood asthma in a group of 176 children followed
from birth in the Cincinnati, Ohio, and Northern Kentucky area.
Mold exposure in the home was mea