REBECCA TODD – the Press DEAN KOZANIC/The Press

HARD JOURNEY: Elizabeth Neill’s twin sons William, left, and Reev both have asthma and are both in reading recovery.

Children with asthma are more likely to fall six months behind their classmates in reading during their first year of school, research shows.

the findings have sparked calls for better support in schools for new entrants with asthma.

the Children’s Learning Study followed 298 five-year-olds at eight Christchurch schools between 2005 and 2008.

the study found that children who started school with asthma – 18.5 per cent – were significantly more likely to be in the lowest 25 per cent in reading at the end of their first year.

the children were not at a lower level at school entrance, but after a year were more likely to have fallen six months or more behind those without the condition in reading.

the low achievement was independent of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ability level, absence, asthma severity and behaviour problems.

the lead researcher, Canterbury University associate professor Kathleen Liberty, said the results were “extremely concerning”.

“If the learning problems are associated with health conditions, then putting in place educational interventions is not going to have an impact,” she said.

“Our concern is with the children who are struggling and if we can find out what it is about the asthma that’s affecting their ability to learn in the first year of school,” she said.

Researchers would now try to explain “why they came to school ready to learn and ended up with so many of them in the lowest quartile”.

Possible reasons were that asthmatic children had other health conditions or limited social experiences, which affected their ability to learn.

Asthma-related sleeping problems could lead to lower concentration.

Liberty said children with asthma needed to be watched carefully in the first few terms of school to see if they were falling behind. if they had problems, the school should step in straight away.

Schools provided support for struggling children from age six, but the data showed they needed to get in early or children with asthma would “fall further and further behind”, she said.

Asthma Foundation medical director Bob Hancox said the study showed young children with asthma could need extra help at school.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know how to prevent asthma, but we do know how to improve asthma control to minimise it’s impact,” he said. “Parents who are concerned about their children’s asthma should talk to their doctors.”

Ministry of Education principal adviser Shelley Robertson said a child with severe asthma could qualify for “high health needs” support, particularly when moving to a new school.

“We expect any child with a health condition to be supported by a school. Staff can do this by developing a care plan with parents and health professionals,” she said.

new Zealand has high asthma rates among children. about 28 per cent of children aged six and seven have been diagnosed with asthma, and 20 per cent have asthma symptoms that are poorly controlled.

the Canterbury findings have been published in medical journal Chest.

Flow of words – and air – not always clear

a North Canterbury mother says her children’s asthma means they have struggled to learn to read.

Elizabeth Neill, of Culverden, said Canterbury research showing new entrants with asthma were more likely to fall behind in reading than their classmates rang true with her twin boys.

William and Reev, aged six, both suffer from chronic asthma and were put into reading recovery after their first year at school.

Neill said both boys missed classes because of their illness and had trouble sleeping through the night.

William was on daily steroids, which made him hyperactive, and he found it hard to concentrate.

“He can’t focus; can’t stay on task for anything for more than a few minutes. that has quite an effect on his learning,” she said.

William’s allergies also left him feeling “miserable” during the school day.

Neill said Reev was about six months behind in his reading and William even further. the effect of the reading-recovery programme was “remarkable”.

She said that when the twins were diagnosed with asthma at five and 10 months, she did not realise it would affect their learning. the boys could not go to preschool because their asthma was so bad.

“I thought it would have an effect on their socialisation at school and even focus, but I didn’t realise what effect it would have on their development as far as learning went,” Neill said.

She supported the idea of children with asthma being watched carefully so any sign they were falling behind could be dealt with quickly.

Carolyn Dean MD ND | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A reader just asked if there was any truth to the report that’s flooded the internet under the heading “Study Verifies that there is no value In any Flu Vaccine.”

In order to grab attention most headlines stretch the truth. This one does a bit, but the facts are still clear that flu vaccines don’t perform like the drug companies say they do.

The organization that did this review is The Cochrane Collaboration. It’s a group of over 10,000 volunteers in more than 90 countries who review the effects of health care interventions compiles data from research studies and tries to draw a conclusion based on the facts reported.

Here’s what they said. take special note of the Warning that industry studies are biased in favor of vaccination, which, to my mind, invalidates all those studies.

Main ResultsWe included 50 reports. forty (59 sub-studies) were clinical trials of over 70,000 people. Eight were comparative non-RCTs (randomized controlled trials) and assessed serious harms. Two were reports of harms which could not be introduced in the data analysis. In the relatively uncommon circumstance of vaccine matching the viral circulating strain and high circulation, 4% of unvaccinated people versus 1% of vaccinated people developed influenza symptoms. The corresponding figures for poor vaccine matching were 2% and 1%. these differences were not likely to be due to chance. Vaccination had a modest effect on time off work and had no effect on hospital admissions or complication rates. Inactivated vaccines caused local harms and an estimated 1.6 additional cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome per million vaccinations. The harms evidence base is limited.

Authors’ ConclusionsInfluenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. there is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission.

WARNING:This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). an earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.

My advice? take Vitamin D this winter to prevent the flu. on Wednesday December 15, 2010 at 7pm PST. I’ll be doing my second hour-long webinar with Dr. Lani Simpson. This one is specifically on Vitamin D. to attend this free seminar, just sign up at lanisimpson.com. For those with a time challenge, I will be putting the audio portion of both webinars on my website soon.

P.S. I apologize in advance to people who write me with personal health questions. I will no longer be able to answer them but must confine myself to answering emails from clients and members of Future Health now! I am working on cloning myself and when that process is complete I will then be able to answer the 100+ emails I get every day. However, please send general questions that I may be able to answer in my blog.

Newswise — The flu virus is a ‘gift’ that you don’t want to keep on giving throughout the holiday season, warns Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, dean of the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine, and the best way to avoid the flu is prevention with a seasonal flu vaccine.

“The flu virus is can easily hitch a ride on a handshake, hug or kiss,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “Feeling fine is not always an indication, because you can be contagious with the virus for a couple of days before you notice any symptoms. If you get a flu vaccine now, you will limit the chance that you’ll be passing on or receiving the virus when celebrating with family or friends this holiday season.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that everyone older than 6 months be vaccinated this year, but as of mid-November only about one-third of those eligible have gotten the vaccine.

“It is important not to underestimate the danger of influenza,” Dr. Cavalieri added. “In the mildest years we’ve seen, the flu still caused about 3,000 deaths. during our worst flu seasons, that number has ballooned to as many as 49,000. The CDC estimates that last year, the H1N1 virus alone killed more than 12,000 people in this country.”

Cavalieri noted that the HIN1 virus is expected to circulate in the United States again this flu season, and that it is one of three strains of flu virus included in this year’s vaccination. Although the flu season is only beginning to take hold in several parts of the country, the holiday season typically will kick off a wave of infections.

People who don’t get a flu vaccine are not just putting themselves at risk. “If you don’t get a flu vaccine, you put at risk everyone you come in contact with, including very young children or the elderly, two groups who are most at risk from serious complications from the virus,” said Dr. Cavalieri.

It takes about two weeks after getting the vaccine for your body to manufacture enough antibodies to provide full protection from the seasonal flu. for those who are not able to get a vaccine immediately, Dr. Cavalieri offers these tips to help keep you and those around you out of the flu virus’s path.

• Take care of yourself. get plenty of rest, drink lots of fluids and eat a balanced diet. your risk of illness increases when you get run down.• Wash your hands. Lather soap on hands and between fingers for 20-30 seconds before rinsing. Wash your hands often during the day, especially after being out in public places like malls. Teach young children to sing a song while washing. The “ABC” song or two verses of “Happy Birthday” should take about 20 seconds to sing. • Keep tissues handy. have tissues available wherever you go and dispose of used tissues immediately. Encourage children to avoid spreading germs by sneezing into their elbows or shoulders if tissues aren’t available. • Avoid those who are sick. If you know that someone at a friend or relative’s house has been ill with the flu, postpone your visit for a few days. try to keep about five or six feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing. • Keep your hands away from your face. Touching your eyes, nose or mouth could allow you to become infected by viruses on your hands.• Finally, stay home if you are sick. everyone has “important” work to do, but going back to work or school before you have fully recovered will increase the risk of your spreading illness to fellow workers and students.

The UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine (som.umdnj.edu) is dedicated to providing excellence in medical education, research and health care for new Jersey and the nation. Working in cooperation with Kennedy University Hospital, its principal affiliate, the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine places an emphasis on primary health care and community health services that reflect its osteopathic philosophy, with centers of excellence that demonstrate its commitment to developing clinically skillful, compassionate and culturally competent physicians from diverse backgrounds, who are prepared to become leaders in their communities.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of new Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with nearly 5,700 students attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, new Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.

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