The independent role of prenatal and postnatal exposure to active and passive smoking on the development of early wheeze in children.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases childhood asthma risk, but health effects in children of nonsmoking mothers passively exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy are unclear. We examined the association of maternal passive smoking during pregnancy and wheeze in children aged ≤2 years.Individual data of 27 993 mother-child pairs from 15 European birth cohorts were combined in pooled analyses taking into consideration potential confounders.

Metabolic abnormalities in Williams-Beuren syndrome.

Background: Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS, OMIM-194050) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with multisystemic manifestations caused by a 1.55-1.83 Mb deletion at 7q11.

Interaction between asthma and smoking increases the risk of adult airway obstruction.

The aim of the present study was to analyse the interaction between asthma and smoking in the risk of adult airway obstruction, accounting for atopy. In the European Community Respiratory Health Survey, 15 668 persons aged 20-56 years underwent spirometry in 1991-1993 and 9 years later (n=8916). Risk of airway obstruction and lung function decline associated with smoking and early-onset (<10 years of age) and late-onset (>10 years of age) asthma were analysed with generalised estimating equation models and random-effect linear models, adjusting for covariates.

Dampness, bacterial and fungal components in dust in primary schools and respiratory health in schoolchildren across Europe.

Background: Respiratory health effects of damp housing are well recognised, but less is known about the effect of dampness and water damage in schools. The HITEA study previously reported a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms in pupils from moisture damaged schools, but the role of specific microbial exposures remained unclear.

Objectives: To study associations between school dampness, levels of fungal and bacterial markers, respiratory symptoms and lung function in children.

Genome-wide association study of sexual maturation in males and females highlights a role for body mass and menarche loci in male puberty.

Little is known about genes regulating male puberty. Further, while many identified pubertal timing variants associate with age at menarche, a late manifestation of puberty, and body mass, little is known about these variants' relationship to pubertal initiation or tempo. To address these questions, we performed genome-wide association meta-analysis in over 11 000 European samples with data on early pubertal traits, male genital and female breast development, measured by the Tanner scale.

Breastfeeding duration and cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age: Rhea mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece.

Background: Breast feeding duration has been associated with improved cognitive development in children. However, few population-based prospective studies have evaluated dose-response relationships of breastfeeding duration with language and motor development at early ages, and results are discrepant.

Methods: The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort ('Rhea' study) in Crete, Greece.