Bacteria may protect kids from asthma
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A bacteria only recently revealed as a major cause of ulcers and stomach cancer may help protect children from developing asthma, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.
Children ages 3 to 13 who were infected with Helicobacter pylori were 59% less likely to have asthma than those who were not infected, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers used data on more than 7,000 U.S. children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 1999 to 2000 by the National Center for Health Statistics.
