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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 2000;284:686.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

During the past 20 years, cases of allergic asthma have more than doubled in adults, according to population studies in the United Kingdom.

In the July 8 BMJ, researchers in Scotland and England reported on asthma and hay fever trends in two generations of families in the Scottish towns of Renfrew and Paisley. Their study included 1477 married couples aged 45 to 64 who were evaluated in a 1972-1976 survey and 2338 of their offspring aged 30 to 59 who were surveyed in 1996. The researchers focused primarily on prevalence rates in 1708 parents and 1124 of their children who were aged 45 to 54 when they participated in the survey.

During the 20 years separating the two generations, the researchers reported that in those who had never smoked, asthma prevalence rose from 3% to 8% and hay fever rose from 6% to 20%. In those who . . . [Full Text of this Article]