Asthma and memory impairment in children

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that often appears during childhood. However, until the publication of a recent study, little was known about the possible consequences of hypoxia periods caused by breathing difficulties.

Asthma affects around 𝟔.𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 in the United States, and is more common in boys. Symptoms include 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. These symptoms 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐱𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 to the brain, in addition to inflammatory processes that are not limited to the lungs but could also affect the brain. Animal models of asthma have shown 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐬 during tasks involving the hippocampus.

Very little was known about the effects of asthma on memory in humans, but a study published in November in 𝐽𝐴𝑀𝐴 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑛 investigated this question. In a longitudinal study, the 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 of 135 asthmatic children was studied. Children who had asthma since they were younger had 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 than non-asthmatic children, and their scores for episodic memory, processing speed, inhibition, and attention 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 than those of non-asthmatic children.

These results suggested an 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐚 in children, which could be more severe in children whose asthma started early. In addition to memory functions, 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 may also be impaired. The 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 at the root of these difficulties need to be studied in greater depth in order to gain a better understanding and 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 for asthmatic children.