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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Mother’s depression worsens asthma in children! Part 2

"Intuitively, it may seem that we're dealing with a chicken-egg situation, but our study suggests otherwise. The fact that mom's depression was not affected by how often her child had symptoms really caught us off guard, but it also suggested which factor comes first," Riekert said.

Since depression can profoundly affect mental health concentration, cause fatigue and diminish concentration, it may weaken the mother’s ability to manage her child’s asthma. Asthma is a common respiratory ailment which often gets worse in winter and some children require daily treatments and multiple doctor visits.

"Mom is the one who must implement the doctor's recommendations for treatment and follow-up, and if she is depressed she can't do it well, so the child will suffer," said chief scientist Michiko Otsuki said in news press release.

This simple observational study may be true but there are many other factors in African Americans that have not been looked at. The economy, finances, physical health, obesity or lack of transport- all these can lead to worsening of not only asthma but many other medical disorders.

The study can be viewed online on the Journal of Pediatric Psychology Nov 2009.

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