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10th June 2005 Child allergies linked to parental depression Children whose parents suffer with major depression or panic disorders are more likely to have asthma and other allergy related conditions according to new research. The study, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, found that the link was only present in biological children, suggesting that there is a 'shared genetic liability'. Lead researcher Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, from Columbia University, in New York, assessed the link between childhood allergy disorders and parental major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic attacks. He looked at 9,240 parent-child pairs, 8686 of which were biological and 554 were nonbiological. Thirty-one percent of the children and 19 percent of the adults had allergic disorders which included hay fever, respiratory allergies, eczema, wheezing, food allergies and asthma. Major depression was diagnosed 6 percent of the parents, panic attacks in 3 percent and generalized anxiety disorder in 3 percent. The findings showed a link between major depression and panic attacks in parents and allergic disorders in children, specifically apparent in mothers. Mojtabai, who is currently at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, said that these findings should be viewed in the context of previous studies that found an increased risk of depression in children of parents with allergic disorders. "In this context, data from the present study further support the possibility of common genes for depression and panic disorder on the one hand, and allergic disorders on the other hand," he said. Where to next?
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