Researchers at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford found children born after infertility treatment are at a higher risk of suffering from asthma.
The study showed that children born to parents who have either waited a long time to conceive of have given birth with the aid of assisted reproduction technology (ART)are more likely to suffer from asthma by the age of 5. However, researchers have said this finding should not be the cause of worry for parents who have conceived children with the help of ARTs.
"Although the children born after ART were more likely to be diagnosed and treated for asthma than other children, it is important to remember that in absolute terms the difference is quite small. Fifteen percent of the children in our study had asthma at the age of five. Although this figure was higher, 24%, in the IVF children, it isn't much higher than the one in five risk for all children in the UK," said Dr. Claire Carson, a researcher at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford (UK) in a report published in Science Daily.
She added: "Although we found an association, we cannot tell at this time if it is causal. Further research is needed to establish what might be causing the association and the underlying mechanism involved. It is also important to remember that for most children, asthma is a manageable condition and shouldn't prevent children from living a full and active life."
The study included analysis of data of 18,818 children across the UK who were born between 2000-2002.
"Childhood asthma is a common condition in the UK where the prevalence of the condition is higher than other European countries, and (to our knowledge) this is the first UK study of asthma after IVF conceptions," Dr. Carson said. "Our analysis suggests that it is the ART group in particular who are at higher risk. However, we do need to be reasonably cautious when interpreting the results because there is a relatively small number of IVF cases in our study -- just 104 babies."
The findings were published online December 6 in the reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction.
