Precursors to adult asthma

A chronic runny nose, taking paracetamol in infancy and wheezing as a child are all linked to the onset of adulthood asthma, say three new studies.

Babies given the over-the-counter pain reliever paracetamol in their first year of life are 50 percent more likely to show symptoms of asthma by the time they are 6 or 7 years old, one of the reports says.

Based on data collected on more than 200,000 children in 31 countries, the study also shows an increased risk of asthma symptoms in young children given paracetamol within the previous year - the more frequently it was given, the higher the risk.