Children with the condition were found to have more memory issues than those who didn’t have it
The tell-tale signs of dementia, what to do if you spot them and how to get support
New research suggests that asthma is linked to memory problems in children, and early onset of the condition could exacerbate these issues. The study revealed that kids with asthma performed worse in memory tasks compared to those without the lung disease.
Researchers warn that these memory deficits could have long-term implications, potentially increasing the risk of conditions like dementia. In a group of 473 children tracked over two years, it was found that those who developed asthma earlier and had lived with the disease for a longer period showed slower memory development over time.
Lead author Simona Ghetti, a professor of psychology in the University of California, Davis – centre for mind and brain in the college of letters and science – said: “This study underscores the importance of looking at asthma as a potential source of cognitive difficulty in children.
“We are becoming increasingly aware that chronic diseases, not only asthma but also diabetes, heart disease and others may place children at increased risk of cognitive difficulties. We need to understand the factors that might exacerbate or protect against the risks.”
Past studies with older adults and with animals, found that asthma was associated with a greater risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, both of which affect memory.
Nicholas Christopher-Hayes, a PhD candidate in psychology at UC Davis and the study’s first author – said: “Asthma might set children on a trajectory that could increase their risk to later develop something more serious like dementia as adults.”
Although the study did not look at the mechanism responsible for memory difficulties associated with asthma, the researchers cite potential factors, such as prolonged inflammation from asthma or repeated disruptions in oxygen supply to the brain due to asthma attacks. The study included data from 2,062 children nine to 10 years old with asthma to test how the condition might affect episodic memory and other cognitive measures.
Episodic memory is how people remember experiences and emotions, like events and the people and objects that were there. The smaller sample that followed the children for two years included 473 children.
The data from this study, published in Jama Network Open, came from America’s National Institutes of Health and were collected beginning in 2015 as part of the large and ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study of 11,800 children.