New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reveals that high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in children’s blood are associated with a reduced risk of asthma or rhinitis at the age of 16 years.
Allergic diseases such as asthma and rhinitis are common and often debut in childhood. Today we know that disease risk is affected by both hereditary and environmental factors.
To date, the present study is the largest to investigate the association between levels of long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the blood and subsequent development of asthma and other allergic diseases. This study was conducted as part of the Swedish birth cohort BAMSE, and is based on analyses of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids in blood samples from 940 children.
The results show that children who had higher blood levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids at the age of 8 years were less likely to have developed asthma or rhinitis by the age of 16 years.
