There is a positive link between
childhood allergy-associated diseases and adolescent abdominal pain-related
functional gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome.
Eczema and food hypersensitivity are positively associated with adolescent abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders in general, and asthma and food hypersensitivity are positively associated with adolescent irritable bowel syndrome, as per the findings of a prospective study published in BMC Medicine.
In this population-based birth cohort study of 4089 children, researchers explored the link between childhood allergy-associated diseases and adolescent abdominal pain-linked gastrointestinal disorders in general and irritable bowel syndrome in particular.
Overall, the data from 2949 children with complete follow-up at sixteen years and no diagnosis of celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease at twelve or sixteen years were analyzed. Eczema, asthma, rhinitis, and food hypersensitivity were evaluated through questionnaires at 1–2 years, 4 years, 8 years, 12 years, and 16 years.
Abdominal pain-linked functional gastrointestinal disorders and irritable bowel syndrome were determined using questionnaires at sixteen years and defined as per the Rome III criteria. The link between childhood allergy-associated diseases and any functional gastrointestinal disorders and irritable bowel syndrome and 16 years respectively were evaluated with the aid of binomial generalized linear models using a log link function and elucidated as relative risk with 95% confidence intervals.
The prevalence of any gastrointestinal disorders and irritable bowel syndrome at 16 years is shown in Table 1:
Eczema at 1–2 years, 4 years, and 8 years, and food hypersensitivity at 12 years and 16 years were related to an elevated risk for any abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders at 16 years. Asthma and food hypersensitivity at 12 years and 16 years were related to an elevated risk for irritable bowel syndrome at 16 years.
The relative risk for irritable
bowel syndrome at 16 years magnified with the rising number of concurrent
allergy-associated diseases at 16 years. However, a linear trend for relative
risk was only borderline significant. Thus, this study implicated shared
pathophysiology among childhood allergy-related diseases and adolescent
abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders.
BMC Medicine
Allergy-related diseases in childhood and risk for abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders at 16 years—a birth cohort study
Jessica Sjölund et al.
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