Accurate Lung Tests Possible for Children

Accurate testing of children's lungs is possible for the first time, British Lung Foundation research shows:

• New test means accurate lung measurement for 3 – 5 year olds.

• Early lung disease can now be detected before symptoms are apparent.

• Research is unveiled to launch British Lung Foundation's 'Lungs are for Life' Breathe Easy week campaign.

Health professionals can accurately test the lungs of young children for the first time, thanks to research funded by the British Lung Foundation. The research is unveiled at the launch of a "Lungs are for Life" campaign to mark the charity's Breathe Easy Week (10th – 17th June 2006).

Respiratory disease is the most commonly reported long term illness in children - 34% of weekly GP consultations and 15% of hospital admissions of children are due to respiratory complaints. Yet very young children are rarely able to manage the lung function tests used for older people. Doctors usually have to rely on a chest examination and what the parents tell them about symptoms.

BLF-funded research carried out by Professor Janet Stocks has led to the development of new and better tests. They can make accurate measurements in four out of five children between the ages of three and five. The original research focused on children with cystic fibrosis. But the results apply to other lung diseases such as asthma and chronic lung disease in children born preterm.

"It means that early lung disease can be detected before the symptoms are apparent," says Professor Janet Stocks. "The children can then be given appropriate treatment before irreversible lung damage has occurred."

Forty pre-school children with cystic fibrosis, and a similar number of healthy young children who were 3 to 5 years old, took part in the research carried out by Professor Stocks' team at the UCL, Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond St Hospital for Children. Called the "Multiple Breath Washout technique", each child was required only to breathe quietly through a face mask while watching a favourite video for about 10 – 15 minutes. This test detected abnormalities in 73% of the young children with Cystic Fibrosis, even though many of them had no chest symptoms at the time of measurement and normal results with the other tests.

"There is increasing evidence that much adult lung disease has its origins in early life," says Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation. "The development of better ways of detecting and treating lung disease in early childhood not only brings relief to the children who suffer from such diseases and those who care for them, but could have life-long benefits."

The BLF's 'Lungs are for life' national campaign aims to raise awareness of the fragility of lungs and the fact that childhood diseases often lead to problems in adult life.

For more information about Breathe Easy week, go here: http://www.lunguk.org/news.asp#200

For more information about Baby Breathe Easy, our network of support groups for parents and carers of children under five, go here: http://www.lunguk.org/baby-breathe-easy.asp

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