VENTILATORY FUNCTION IN BRITISH ADULTS AFTER ASTHMA OR WHEEZING ILLNESS AT AGES 0-35

The impact of past and current asthma on ventilatory function was asse ssed among you ng adults born in Britain March 3-9, 1958 who had been followed from birth to ages 7, 11, 16, 23, and 33 yr. We compared 1,06 0 subjects with a history of asthma, wheezy bronchitis, or wheezing wi th 275 control subjects with no history of chest illness. Forced expir atory volume in one second (FEV(1)) and forced vital capacity (FVC) we re measured at 34-35 yr of age before and 20 min after inhalation of 4 00 mu g salbutamol, and adjusted for sex, height, and smoking by multi ple regression. Among 551 cases reporting no wheeze in the year before examination, ventilatory function after salbutamol did not differ sig nificantly from the controls, except for FEV(1) in 192 subjects with t ransient wheezing before age 7 (p < 0.05). Among 509 cases reporting w heeze in the past year, FEV(1) and FEV(1)/FVC ratio were reduced to a greater extent in those with an earlier age of onset of wheeze (p < 0. 001 for trend in each case). These relative reductions were greater if wheezing had persisted through childhood and adolescence, and were on ly partially reversed by inhalation of salbutamol. Progressive pulmona ry changes related to chronic asthma may be an important mechanism und erlying the association between childhood chest illnesses and chronic respiratory disease in adult life.