FIRC Science comparison *Do not copy*

Title: A Comparison Of "The Effect Of Prenatal Acetaminophen On Asthma In Children"

Branch of science: Health and Medicine

Overview:

                The articles that I chose for my FIRC science project are about the effect of Aspirin (Acetaminophen) on asthma in children. In the first article, The researchers concluded that taking the medication had no significant effect on the children in regards to asthma. It also suggested that taking the medication in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy REDUCED the risk of asthma in children.  The second article was the same experiment, but it only focused on children up to age 5 in urban areas. The latter study concluded that taking the medication increased the risk of the children wheezing. This topic is controversial because many expectant mothers do not know what to or what medication to take while expecting.

Summary of Position 1:

                The study followed 1,505 mothers and their children from pregnancy to age 6 1/2 and monitored the onset of asthma once the child turned 6. They discovered that 69% of the expectant mothers while in their first and/or third trimester. They also looked at whether a higher dosage increased risk of the child's asthma. The scientists concluded that taking acetaminophen in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy may actually DECREASE the risk of asthma in the child. They also concluded that taking the higher dosage (10,400 mg per month), did nothing to increase the risk of asthma.

1   Prenatal Exposure to Acetaminophen and Asthma in Children

Kang, E. M., Lundsberg, L. S., Illuzzi, J. L., & Bracken, M. B. (n.d.). Prenatal
exposure to acetaminophen and asthma in children. NIHPA Author Manuscripts.
doi:10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181c225c0

Summary of Position 2:

                This study followed 301 expectant mothers and their children up to age 5. They discovered that 34% of expectant mothers took acetaminophen and 27% of their children had a wheeze by age 5. They also discovered that "the risk increased monotonically with increasing number of days of prenatal acetaminophen exposure". The scientists concluded that "Prenatal exposure to acetaminophen predicted wheeze at age 5 ". 

2   Prenatal acetaminophen exposure and risk of wheeze at age 5 years in an urban low-income cohort -- Perzanowski et al. 65 (2): 118 -- Thorax

Perzanowski, M. S., Miller, R. L., Tang, D., Ali, D., Garfinkel, R. S., Chew, G.
L., . . . Barr, R. G. (2010). Prenatal acetaminophen exposure and risk of
wheeze at age 5 years in an urban low-income cohort. Thorax, 65(2).
Abstract obtained from Thorax. doi:10.1136/thx.2009.121459