Genetics of the fetus and placenta control developmental abnormalities – BioNews

10 May 2021

Developmental abnormalities, including those leading to miscarriage and autism, are primarily controlled by the genetics of the fetus and placenta.

Abnormalities of the placental trophoblast bilayer the primary barrier between maternal and fetal tissues are known as trophoblast inclusions. These abnormalities are linked with aneuploidy and miscarriage. However, it has not been known whether they occur due to the mother's uterine environment or the genetics of the fetus.

'Mothers often feel that they are responsible for these defects. But it's not their fault,' said Dr Harvey Kliman, senior author and researcher at Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut. 'This new research points to the genetics of these children as being the most important cause.'

In a study publishedin Placenta, the scientists examined placental data from 48 sets of identical and non-identical twins. They discovered that trophoblast inclusions were present with similar frequency in identical twins, yet non-identical twins showed a significantly different number of trophoblast inclusions.

Identical twins share the same DNA sequence, whereas non-identical twins share an average of half of their DNA sequence the same as non-twin siblings.

As a non-identical twin, lead author Julia Katz, a former Yale undergraduate who is now a medical student at Hofstra University, New York, included her own placental slides from birth in the study.

Katz's twin brother was born underweight and with several congenital abnormalities, 'I had a lot of guilt, growing up, about why my twin had certain conditions that I didn't,' Katz explained. 'I think mothers also tend to blame themselves.'

The authors concluded that developmental abnormalities are influenced by the genetic makeup of the fetus and that the resulting trophoblast inclusions can serve as a marker of genetic abnormality.

'This work suggests that developmental abnormalities are much more likely to be due to the genetics of the child, and not the mother's fault,' Dr Kliman concluded.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, birth defects affect one in every 33 babies born in the USA each year and are the leading cause of infant deaths, accounting for 20 percent of all infant deaths.

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Genetics of the fetus and placenta control developmental abnormalities - BioNews

Geisinger contracted to study links between genetic variations and cancer – NorthcentralPa.com

Danville, Pa. - Researchers from Geisinger have received a five-year, $3.6 million contract to study the role of genetic variation in cancer from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Geisinger will work together with NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) to analyze data from Geisinger's MyCode Community Health Initiative, a project with over 276,000 voluntary participants.

The work will be led by David J. Carey, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Functional Genomics at Geisinger and a MyCode principal investigator, and Douglas Stewart, M.D., a senior investigator at DCEG.

The investigative team will use a genome-first approach, analyzing data from MyCode participants to identify specific gene variants and then linking that information to the participants electronic health records.

This approach will allow investigators to determine the effect of these gene variants on cancer risk.

The size and scope of the MyCode project provides an opportunity to investigate the relationship between multiple genes and cancers to develop a better understanding of genetic cancer risk in a large clinical population, expanding the list of relevant genes to investigate during genetic cancer screenings.

The project builds on a history of successful collaboration between Drs. Carey and Stewart in investigating the role of gene variants in specific cancers, including a recent study of DICER1 syndrome, which is linked to lung, thyroid, and other kinds of tumors, published in JAMA Network Open.

This partnership allows Geisinger and NCI investigators to combine our expertise in cancer diagnosis, epidemiology, cancer biology, and genetics, Dr. Carey said.

The data available through MyCode provides us with a unique opportunity to investigate the genetic risk of cancer in a large regional population," Dr. Carey continued.

Since 2007, MyCode has enrolled more than 276,000 participants in Pennsylvania. With DNA sequence and health data currently available on nearly 175,000 of these participants, MyCode is one of the largest studies of its kind in the world.

The project is funded with federal funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services.

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Geisinger contracted to study links between genetic variations and cancer - NorthcentralPa.com

The Science of Aliens, Part 2: What Kind of Genetic Code Would Extraterrestrials Have? – Air & Space Magazine

All cellular life on Earth is based on DNA, which transfers informationabout everything from hair color to personality traitsfrom one generation to the next. The four chemical bases that convey this information are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T).

The other essential information molecule on Earth is RNA, in which thymine (T) is replaced by uracil (U). RNA has a one-string structure rather than a double-string structure like DNA. The first cellular life on our planet is thought to have relied exclusively on this means of transferring genetic informationin the so-called RNA worldand even today there are viruses (like the one that causes COVID) that only use RNA.

In a paper recently published in Science, a research group led by Dona Sleiman from the Institute Pasteur in Paris has discovered that some viruses show more variation in their genetic coding than was previously known. In the RNA of these viruses, adenine (A) is replaced with Z, where Z stands for diaminopurine.

This follows an earlier study by Zunyi Yang and colleagues at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida, showing that an artificial genetic system could be created by adding two additional non-standard bases to ordinary DNA. Amazingly, the artificial six-base system continued to evolve rather than reverting back to the natural four-base system. This implies that the DNA we take as standardmade of A, C, G, and Tis just one of many viable solutions to the challenge of biological information transfer.

The variability does not stop here. Strings of DNA are organized in base triplets that determine which of the standard 20 amino acids are assigned to synthesize proteins. However, these triplet assignments are not universal. For example, CUG, which usually codes for the amino acid serine, instead codes for the amino acid leucine in some types of fungi. Also, some organisms naturally encode for two additional amino acids instead of the standard 20 amino acids.

What does this brief excursion into genetics have to do with alien life? While it is believed that all life on our planet derives from one common ancestor, the genetic code is much more flexible and diverse than usually appreciated. The biochemistry of information transfer in an alien species would almost certainly use different building blocks and encodings, and perhaps even a different number of bases. Our genetic code is surely highly optimized for life on Earth, but I feel certain that there are many optimal solutionsperhaps some that are even betterfor transferring information chemically from one generation to the next.

We, of course, cannot say what type of genetic code an alien species would use. But given that it would most likely be biochemically different, it would mostly likely be easily distinguishable from life on Earth. It may even be more different than we expect. A fascinating out-of-the-box genetic system has been suggested by Gerald Feinberg and Robert Shapiro, based on magnetic orientations rather than chemistry. They showed how magnetized particles, when approaching a magnetic chain, will align with the chain. As a result, the chain is duplicated, and this method could in principle be used to convey information in a binary code.

So, while alien life may well transmit genetic information using structures similar to RNA and DNA, we should always be prepared to expect the unexpected.

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The Science of Aliens, Part 2: What Kind of Genetic Code Would Extraterrestrials Have? - Air & Space Magazine

The Genetics of Asthma – News-Medical.net

Asthma is a chronic condition characterized by lung airway inflammation that is caused by both genetic and environmental factors.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the airways of the lungs that is caused by increased airway responsiveness and reversible airway obstruction. This leads to symptoms of chest tightness, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

When these symptoms occur (usually suddenly), it is known as an asthma attack. Reliever inhalers (normally blue) can be used as effective and quick emergency treatments to combat asthma attacks. However, if emergency inhalers are not available, or medical attention is not immediately sought, asthma attacks can be life-threatening and 3 people die every day in the UK due to untreated asthma attacks.

The worldwide prevalence of asthma has been increasing and continues to rise across the world. More specifically, asthma rates in urban areas are increasing more than in rural areas. Many of the causes of asthma may be attributed to environmental factors such as smoking, air pollution, climate change, but also increasing evidence points towards specific genetic factors that may directly cause asthma in families or predispose individuals to later-onset asthma especially in combination with environmental factors.

Image Credit: Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

Almost half of all people affected by asthma have a genetic susceptibility either inherited genetic mutations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which increase the risk of developing asthma especially in combination with certain environmental factors.

For example, people with no family history of asthma have a 5% risk of developing asthma. Having a sibling or a parent with asthma increases this risk to 25%, having both parents with asthma increases this risk to 50%, and having a monozygotic twin increases the risk to 75%. This clearly illustrates a strong genetic basis for asthma risk. The latter also highlights that asthma is not a purely genetic disease and the environment plays an important role in determining asthma risk too (otherwise the risk would be 100% with a monozygotic twin).

Where genes play a strong role as compared to the environment would be primarily in early-onset asthma. Having a family history of asthma usually results in earlier onset disease thus genes may be implicated in the age at onset of disease. Furthermore, the severity of the disease may also be uniform in families e.g., more severe asthmatic parent leading to a severely asthmatic child. Specific genes may increase the risk of allergic asthma (most common) whereas others are involved in non-allergic asthma (rarer but tends to be more severe and usually occurs later in life).

Most genes implicated in asthma are related to inflammation/modulation of the immune system, or to do with lung physiology. To date, over 100 such genes have been identified with more being identified each year. These genes include specific cytokines (inflammation/immunity), Toll-like receptors, major histocompatibility complexes (MHC), receptors, cysteine leukotriene metabolic pathway, airway hyperresponsiveness, lung function as well as some other genes.

Specific genes commonly implicated in asthma include:

Many of these genes are involved in inflammation, immunity, and lung function. Mutations or polymorphisms to any of these genes compromise their normal function thus leading to dysregulated immune/inflammatory responses (i.e., exaggerated response), or remodeling of the airways decreasing lung function, or increasing hyperresponsiveness.

Collectively they contribute either to causing earlier-onset asthma, or predisposing adults to developing asthma later in life in combination with certain environmental factors (such as smoking, air pollution, dust mites, or pollen) or combination with other conditions such as dermatitis.

In summary, asthma is a complex multifactorial condition that has many causes both environmental and genetic. Having a family history of asthma increases the risk of asthma thus suggesting a strong genetic basis. Certain genes may only predispose individuals to asthma (later-onset/environmentally triggered), however, other genes may be directly causative of asthma particularly early-onset or that which is more severe (typically running in families). Knowing what genes cause asthma or increase the risk of asthma is important in the development of novel therapies and treatments.

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The Genetics of Asthma - News-Medical.net

COVID-19 one year into the pandemic: from genetics and genomics to therapy, vaccination, and policy – DocWire News

This article was originally published here

Hum Genomics. 2021 May 10;15(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s40246-021-00326-3.

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has engulfed the world and it will accompany us all for some time to come. Here, we review the current state at the milestone of 1 year into the pandemic, as declared by the WHO (World Health Organization). We review several aspects of the on-going pandemic, focusing first on two major topics: viral variants and the human genetic susceptibility to disease severity. We then consider recent and exciting new developments in therapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies, and in prevention strategies, such as vaccines. We also briefly discuss how advances in basic science and in biotechnology, under the threat of a worldwide emergency, have accelerated to an unprecedented degree of the transition from the laboratory to clinical applications. While every day we acquire more and more tools to deal with the on-going pandemic, we are aware that the path will be arduous and it will require all of us being community-minded. In this respect, we lament past delays in timely full investigations, and we call for bypassing local politics in the interest of humankind on all continents.

PMID:33966626 | DOI:10.1186/s40246-021-00326-3

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COVID-19 one year into the pandemic: from genetics and genomics to therapy, vaccination, and policy - DocWire News

Did Homo sapiens really outcompete Neanderthals? Genetics is rewriting the story of human evolution – Genetic Literacy Project

The GLP Needs Your Help

It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No, vaccines are not harmful. Yes, the use of biotechnology, GMOs or gene editing to develop antigens for treatments including vaccines are part of the solution. To inform the public about whats really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. We cant do this work without your help. Please support us a donation of as little as $10 a month helps support our vital myth-busting efforts.

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Did Homo sapiens really outcompete Neanderthals? Genetics is rewriting the story of human evolution - Genetic Literacy Project

Genes and metastatic breast cancer: What role do they play? – Medical News Today

Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) refers to breast cancer that has spread beyond the breasts and nearby lymph nodes to other organs in the body. MBC is also known as advanced or stage 4 cancer.

MBC can develop after an initial diagnosis of earlier stage breast cancer. It is also possible for MBC to be a persons first diagnosis.

There is currently no cure for MBC, but there are many treatment options available that can slow the cancers growth.

This article explores the role that genes play in the development of MBC and how genetic testing is leading researchers to newer targeted treatments.

Mutations in genes can affect a persons susceptibility to breast cancer. Specifically, two categories of mutations germline mutations and somatic mutations may increase an individuals risk of developing breast cancer.

Germline mutations are present in every cell of the body. These mutations run in families, and a person may inherit them from a parent. About 510% of breast cancer cases develop because a person has a hereditary predisposition to breast cancer.

On the other hand, somatic mutations are changes that develop after birth. These changes occur in a single cell and in any cells that derive from that single cell if it divides. A person cannot inherit somatic mutations.

Some specific germline and somatic gene mutations may increase a persons risk of developing breast cancer that progresses to MBC.

We know about several germline mutations, like BRCA1 and BRCA2, that increase our risk [of] cancer. Often, the cancers that these mutations cause are more aggressive, so are at higher risk of metastasizing, explained Dr. Natasha B. Hunter, a board certified oncologist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in Washington.

We also know that tumors develop somatic mutations, some of which can increase their ability to evade immune detection or make them resistant to therapies, Dr. Hunter added.

Genetic testing does not yet play a role in the diagnosis or detection of MBC.

A doctor diagnoses MBC the same way they do other stages of breast cancer with laboratory tests, imaging tests, and biopsies.

However, research is ongoing into how genetic testing can help oncologists catch breast cancer just as it starts to spread beyond the affected breast.

We dont use genetic testing for the diagnosis or detection of MBC currently, said Dr. Hunter, but we hope that at some point we may be able to use highly sensitive detection methods that use DNA or other substances in the blood to detect early metastatic disease so that we could intervene and treat before the development of incurable MBC.

Genetic testing is useful for determining a persons risk of developing breast cancer in the first place.

There are strict criteria set forth by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for breast cancer genetic testing, and they are generally the criteria the insurance companies use to establish testing guidelines, explained Dr. Susan Klugman.

Dr. Klugman is the director of reproductive and medical genetics with the Montefiore Health System and a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York City, NY.

The NCCN indicates genetic testing when a person:

The NCCN also states that doctors may consider genetic testing when a person has had multiple primary breast cancers and first received a diagnosis between the ages of 50 and 65 years.

They may also consider genetic testing when a person does not meet any of the other criteria but has a 2.5% to 5% chance of having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer-causing gene mutation based on probability models.

[Individuals] found to have mutations or changes in certain genes pathogenic variants can opt for surveillance and medical therapy or prophylactic surgery prior to the onset of cancer, Dr. Klugman told Medical News Today.

The results of genetic testing can be valuable to family members as well.

Relatives who are of reproductive age [who] are planning to have a family, and have a genetic mutation, could consider preimplantation genetic testing after in vitro fertilization to avoid passing down the genetic mutation to offspring, Dr. Klugman added.

Standard treatments for MBC are drug therapies such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted drugs. Sometimes, doctors use a combination of these therapies. In other situations, a person may need to undergo surgery or radiation therapy.

The results of genetic testing influence treatment plans for MBC. Certain mutations make a person eligible to receive particular therapies. The detection of genetic mutations can help doctors design more tailored and effective treatment plans.

The tumors of patients with germline BRCA mutations can be particularly responsive to PARP inhibitors, which take advantage of the DNA repair issues that the BRCA mutation causes, said Dr. Hunter.

Patients with certain mutations in the tumor itself (somatic mutations) can also receive targeted therapies. For instance, patients whose tumors harbor PIK3CA mutations can receive a medication called alpelisib, Dr. Hunter added.

Genetic testing results can also qualify individuals for clinical trials in which they can access newer treatment options that they would not typically have access to in traditional clinical settings.

Current treatments for MBC can help slow the growth of tumors, improve symptoms, and extend survival, but the condition remains incurable. However, ongoing research into genetics may hold the key to a brighter outlook.

I think we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of our understanding of genetics, gene expression, and other molecular-level interactions in breast cancer, Dr. Hunter told MNT.

Right now, added Dr. Hunter, I think were seeing the most potential in continuous monitoring to detect early metastatic disease so that we could intervene and treat before the development of incurable MBC holding the potential for cure with early detection. But I think theres much more thats exciting on the horizon.

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Genes and metastatic breast cancer: What role do they play? - Medical News Today

How animal farming may have created ‘perfect storm’ for pandemics – Medical News Today

In the wild, parasites and their animal hosts are engaged in a dynamic cooperation comprising reciprocal, adaptive genetic changes that naturally occur when two species interact.

As a result of continuous adaptations and counter-adaptations between the parasite and its host species, neither is able to gain a sustained advantage over the other.

Evolutionary biologists liken this evolutionary standoff to the race in Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking-Glass, which, as the Red Queen describes it, takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place.

Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment.

However, according to Prof. Cock Van Oosterhout, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, this is a race that humanity is losing.

In an editorial in the journal Virulence, he warns that our highly bred livestock cannot keep pace with the evolution of parasites, such as viruses, due to the animals lack of genetic diversity.

As a result, livestock act as mixing vessels for the emergence of new infectious diseases that can then make the leap from animals to humans.

In combination with habitat destruction, the illegal wildlife trade, and mass migration of both animals and people, Prof. Van Oosterhout says this has created a perfect storm for the development of pandemics, such as COVID-19.

He concludes that emerging infectious diseases are possibly the greatest existential threat to humanity.

As a result of centuries of selective breeding, livestock animals are severely inbred, writes Prof. Van Oosterhout, who is the deputy director of the Earth and Life Systems Alliance.

Despite a total biomass of livestock being 10 times that of all wildlife on Earth, research suggests that these breeds effective population size that is, a measure of a populations genetic diversity and viability is 80 times lower than that of the minimum viable population for a free-living species.

With so little genetic variation, livestock cannot evolve to meet the challenges that new pathogens pose.

Prof. Van Oosterhout writes:

Given the extraordinarily high biomass of our livestock (and us humans), the momentary fitness gains that parasites could accomplish by exploiting this plentiful resource are truly astronomical. Parasites and pathogens will continue to adapt to exploit these resources, and it is high time we recognize[d] this evolutionary inevitability.

He believes that everyone will need to make concessions to safeguard the future well-being of our species.

To minimize the threat from future pandemics and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he proposes three broad strategies:

Gene flow is the mixing of different populations gene pools as a result of the movement of plants, animals, humans, and their associated pathogens.

This genetic mixing provides opportunities for the spread of disease and the emergence of new infections.

Technology that allows virtual working is a straightforward and relatively painless way to control gene flow, Prof. Van Oosterhout writes.

However, he acknowledges that other measures will involve policymakers making trade-offs between the benefits of economic growth, well-being, and education, and potential costs to human health and the environment.

He proposes that governments need to consider more controversial measures, such as compulsory vaccination and vaccine passports.

Sadly, this might be the price we have to pay for trailing in the Red Queen arms race, he writes.

Importantly, implementing these urgent changes requires us to carefully negotiate a wide range of legal and ethical issues that could inadvertently discriminate or exacerbate existing inequalities, he adds.

Prof. Van Oosterhout writes that, in order to track gene flow, governments must dedicate more resources to sequencing the viruses that make their home in wildlife and livestock.

An estimated 1.67 million viral species have yet to be discovered from mammal and bird hosts, and the costs of sequencing viruses with the highest zoonotic potential may be great (~1.2 to 7 billion US dollars), but they are dwarfed by the cost of another pandemic.

Habitat destruction is known to promote the emergence of new infectious diseases. Therefore, it will also be necessary to halt the loss of natural habitats in order to minimize the gene flow, he writes.

Prof. Van Oosterhout claims that livestock has become a sitting duck in the arms race with emerging infectious diseases as a result of extremely low genetic diversity.

Unless we act now, massive losses of crops and livestock are an evolutionary inevitability, he writes.

Fortunately, he says, much of the diversity that was once part of livestock and crops is still present in wild varieties and relatives of these animals and plants, and dispersed among different breeds.

While mass food production has underpinned our success as a species, it is unsustainable on environmental, ecological, and evolutionary grounds, he writes.

We urgently need to reduce our reliance on animal protein, in particular the consumption of other mammals, he says.

He claims that, in contrast to fish, for example, mammals pose the greatest threat for the evolution and transmission of new infectious diseases because they are the most closely related to humans.

In addition, he notes that the use of antibiotics to enhance growth and control infections has led to new, more virulent, and more resistant microorganisms.

Prof. Jonathan Stoye of the Francis Crick Institute in London, U.K., studies the evolutionary arms race between viruses, such as HIV, and their hosts. Both HIV and SARS-CoV-2 jumped from animals to humans.

While acknowledging the dangers posed by infections that originate in animals, such as COVID-19, he told Medical News Today:

I think we need to be very careful about talking of existential threats, particularly in the context of a virus that kills less than 2% of those infected. Overall, I believe that ecological changes resulting from altered land use or deforestation pose a much greater threat than the theoretical risks associated with inbreeding of potential intermediate hosts.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

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How animal farming may have created 'perfect storm' for pandemics - Medical News Today

Q&A: What is asthma and how is it diagnosed in children? – The Irish Times

What causes asthma?

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the bronchial airways produced by allergies, viral respiratory infections and airborne irritants. The root cause is unknown but it seems that a combination of genetics and environment determines who is affected.

There was a very significant increase in the global incidence of asthma in the latter half of the 20th century, which seemed to level off, or even decrease, in the last decade, says Dr Marcus Butler, a respiratory consultant and medical director of the Asthma Society (asthma.ie). This trend would indicate that genetics is not the dominant factor.

What are the symptoms?

In children, its typically wheezing. They can also get a sudden increase in coughing that wont go away. As they get older, children can explain the sensation of tightness in the chest.

Symptoms tend to get worse at night in asthma, says Butler, but other things can cause that too. Its important to take the child to the GP if you have any concerns.

How is childhood asthma diagnosed?

There isnt one simple diagnostic test for asthma so its a condition that is fraught with misdiagnosis, particularly so in paediatric diagnosis, he explains. That is why in the case of children, its recommended that a diagnosis is not made until the age of six onwards.

The majority of wheeze-type conditions in the early years tend to disappear and are probably respiratory viruses rather than allergic asthma. However, some children have very classic asthma symptoms triggered by allergies before the age of six, in which case a confident diagnosis can be made.

The diagnosis requires the demonstration of excessive variability in breathing tests at different times. When people who dont have asthma are asked to blow as hard they can into a measuring device, the results will always be much the same. Whereas for people with asthma, affected by swelling in the lungs, the measurements will sometimes be much lower.

How is it treated?

For young children, medication to control symptoms is administered through an inhaler using a spacer device, which means the drug can be easily inhaled through a mask without them having to co-ordinate their breathing with the pressing of an inhaler. Theyre safe when we use the lowest effective dose. It is really important to have a written asthma action plan that will guide that treatment, says Butler.

The use of such a plan has been effective in reducing the death rate, by getting diagnosis early and starting treatment early. It is also important, he says, that patients are warned about the overuse of short-acting reliever inhalers. These are medications that dont alter the swelling of asthma at all, they just widen the airways temporarily. They can give false reassurance to a patient who will feel better symptom-wise for a short period of time after taking these and they are also so much cheaper than other medications.

This can start a vicious cycle of relying on the reliever medication and not using the preventer medication, which we would much rather happens.

Using more than 12 reliver inhalers a year, ie one a month, is a risk factor for death for asthma, he warns. Inhaler technique is also a big issue, as it requires time and effort to learn to use one correctly. Asthma only improves when the drug reaches its intended destination regularly, deep in the lungs, so inhaler technique is key to that happening.

Are deaths preventable?

There are some cases where, no matter what, death will still happen, says Butler. However, the Asthma Society aims to reduce the number of deaths in Ireland by half by 2025, through education and awareness-raising at patient, practitioner and policy levels. Asthma deaths among all ages rose to 63 in 2016, from a 10-year low of 39 in 2012. A review of six of 13 asthma paediatric deaths from 2006-2016 by Dr Des Cox, consultant in paediatric respiratory medicine in CHI at Crumlin, to be published in the Irish Medical Journal, found common factors among those deaths included: they were mostly adolescents, there was a sudden onset of the asthma attack; the patients did not have an Asthma Action Plan or it was out of date; they had not had structured reviews and none had seen a doctor recently.

For more information, see asthma.ie; or ring the free Asthma Adviceline 1800 44 54 64.

1 in 10 children currently has asthma.1 in 5 children experiences asthma at some stage in their life.5 The average number of school days a child with asthma misses every year.8,000 The number of asthma admissions (child and adult) to hospital every year.4 minutes How often someone in Ireland visits an emergency department due to asthma.Source: Asthma Society of Ireland

Read:It wasnt just asthma

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Q&A: What is asthma and how is it diagnosed in children? - The Irish Times

Nearsightedness is on the rise in children, and it’s not because of genetics – KHOU.com

In the United States alone it has gone from 25% of the population in the 70s to 42% now.

HOUSTON You know how kids dont play outside as much as they used to? Well, now experts say that trend has an unusual side effect: childrens eyesight is getting worse.

An increase in kids

Nearsightedness, also called myopia, is on the rise in kids. Thats when you can see up close objects clearly, but things that are far away are fuzzy.

It can be caused by genetics and the environment. But experts say myopia has increased so rapidly that it cant be blamed on genetics. In the United States alone it has gone from 25 percent of the population in the 70s to 42 percent. In southeast and east Asia, its estimated 80 to 90 percent of high schoolers are nearsighted.

Less sunlight is hurting eyes

So whats causing this increase? It might seem easy to blame all that screen time kids have these days. But experts say that is not the direct reason. Its actually because children are getting less natural light. Researchers say exposure to daylight and focusing on things far away outside can delay the onset of myopia. And the pandemic has made things worse. New research shows the eyesight of children quarantined during the onset of coronavirus deteriorated rapidly.

Take more breaks and get more outside time

There is something you can do about it. Experts say its not practical to take away screens altogether but you can impose some rules. They recommend a practice called 20-20-20. Thats where you take regular breaks every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. And of course, more time outside could make a real difference.

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Nearsightedness is on the rise in children, and it's not because of genetics - KHOU.com