Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Depression linked to allergies in kids

Wow, having had excema and hay fever plus underlying dairy intolerance this is really of interest to me..

Reuters Health - "Research in psychiatrically ill children and adolescents suggests that those with depression, anxiety and other so-called "internalizing" disorders are more likely to have allergies.

Among a sample of 184 young people being evaluated for psychiatric disorders and allergies, 105 (57 percent) had a history of allergic disorders, including asthma, hay fever, hives and eczema...

Researchers found that youth with internalizing disorders were almost twice as likely to have a history of allergies than those with a diagnosis that wasn't classified as an internalizing or externalizing disorder...

"These findings add to the growing body of evidence supporting an association between anxiety, depressive, and allergic disorders," write Dr. Mauricio Infante and colleagues from University of Wisconsin, Madison in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The findings also suggest that these psychiatric and medical disorders "may share risk factors and underlying pathways that contribute to the development of both types of disorders."

The Wisconsin team notes that studies are needed to identify the reasons for these associations so that effective treatment and prevention strategies that target both disorders can be developed."