Sex-related differences in pulmonary physiologic outcome measures in a high-risk birth cohort.

Background: Sex influences the risk of wheezing illnesses and the prevalence of asthma throughout childhood.

Objective: To better understand the mechanisms of these effects, we analyzed longitudinal relationships between sex, lung physiology, and asthma in the Childhood Origins of ASThma birth cohort study.

Methods: Childhood Origins of ASThma birth cohort study children were followed prospectively from birth and assessed annually.

Infections and their role in childhood asthma inception.

The association of early-onset wheezing with common viral and bacterial infections has raised significant interest in the role of infections in childhood asthma inception. This article serves to review these relationships among infections, host factors, and asthma inception in childhood.