Science / Medicine : Babies’ Lung Function Studied
<i> From Times staff and wire reports</i>
Babies who are at increased risk for developing respiratory problems later in life appear to have reduced lung function very early in life, researchers have found.
Dr. Lynn M. Taussig and her colleagues at the Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson tested 124 babies and found those who had poorer lung function as newborns were much more likely to develop lower respiratory tract illness during their first year of life.
In findings published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found the risk of developing a wheezing illness was nearly four times higher overall among the infants who had the worst lung function when they were tested.
