NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies born by Cesareansection may have a moderately increased risk of developing asthmacompared with those born naturally, Norwegian researchers reportafter investigating this link in a population-wide study.

Dr. Mette C. Tollanes, of the University of Bergen, in Norway,and colleagues looked at the modes of delivery among more than 1.7million single births reported to the Medical Birth Registry ofNorway between 1967 and 1998. They used registry data from Norway’sNational Insurance Scheme to determine the number of children who,through the age of 18 or the year 2002, developed severeasthma.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Secondhand exposure tocigarette smoke is an asthma trigger in children and a new studyshows that smoking by the primary caregiver and daycare providerare important sources of smoke exposure in children withasthma.

In the study, children with asthma who were exposed tosecondhand smoke “had as much smoke exposure as if their mothersmoked,” Dr. Harold J. Farber told Reuters Health.

Children with a double hit of smoke exposure - from both theirdaycare provider and primary caregiver - had the highest levels ofnicotine metabolites in their urine, said Farber, of TexasChildren’s Hospital in Houston.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Diplomats in Geneva have agreednew limits for bacteria in baby formula and natural toxins in nuts,setting safety standards to apply for internationally shipped food,the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

At a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint bodyof the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),officials also set benchmarks for producing gluten-free foods.

Peter Ben Embarek, a scientist in the WHO’s food safetydivision, said the adoption of the “landmark” code of hygienicpractices for powdered formula could reduce contamination from twobacteria that can cause severe illness and death in babies.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with persistentallergic rhinitis — better known as hay fever — may experience aprogressive worsening of nasal airflow depending on how long theyhave the disorder, according to Italian researchers.

Dr. Giorgio Ciprandi, of Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria SanMartino, Genoa, Italy, and colleagues assessed nasal function(i.e., nasal airflow) in 100 patients with persistent allergicrhinitis. Half the patients had short-term rhinitis (not more than2 years) and half were long-term sufferers (rhinitis of at least 6years’ duration).

Those with long-term rhinitis had significantly lower nasalairflow values than those with short-term rhinitis; the averageairflow rates were 348 versus 466 milliliters per second, the teamreports in the medical journal Otolaryngology-Head and NeckSurgery.

LONDON (Reuters) - Soul singer Amy Winehouse hasdeveloped the lung condition emphysema and has been warned bydoctors that she will die if she continues smoking drugs, herfather said in an interview on Sunday.

Mitch Winehouse said the incurable illness, which leavessufferers struggling for breath, was diagnosed when his daughterhad series of health checks in hospital.

“The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs itwon’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her,” he was quoted assaying in the Sunday Mirror. “The doctors have said that if she hadcontinued the way she was going she could have ended up an invalid– she wouldn’t have been able to breathe.”

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who eat aMediterranean diet while pregnant could help stave off asthma andallergies in their children, a new study suggests.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is rich in plant-based foods– vegetables, fruits, whole grain breads and cereals, legumes, andnuts — as well as olive oil and fish. Adherents consume low tomoderate amounts of dairy products and eggs, lesser amounts ofwhite meat, and infrequently eat red meat.

Some studies have suggested that such eating patterns can lowerchildren’s odds of asthma symptoms and skin and nasal allergies.But it’s unclear whether women can affect their children’s futureallergy risks by following a Mediterranean diet duringpregnancy.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite being atincreased risk for influenza-related complications, almosttwo-thirds of people with asthma in the US are not vaccinatedagainst influenza each year, according to an analysis of data fromthe 2005-2006 flu season.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommendedsince 1964 that all persons with asthma get a flu shot, becausethey’re prone to complications if they do catch influenza.

“This report presents the first estimates of influenzavaccination coverage in the US among the civilian,noninstitutionalized population of persons with asthma andreinforces the need to increase vaccination throughout this at-riskpopulation,” investigators from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention emphasize.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bad air could cause majorproblems for Olympic athletes who will have to deal with Beijing’spollution and strict anti-doping regulations surrounding asthmamedication in August.

Olympic teams across the world are rushing to screen theirathletes to determine who has exercise-induced asthma, which can betriggered by smog and hurt performance. Many competitors do noteven know they have the condition.

“What we are trying to do is diagnose who has asthma and getthem on the right medication,” said John Woodside, a physiologistwith the English Institute of Sport which is coordinating thetesting of Britain’s Olympic athletes.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Fairs, picnics, ballgames and other social gatherings can make spring and summer primetime for allergic reactions, warns the American Academy of Allergy,Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

Dr. Amal H. Assa’ad, associate director of the Division ofAllergy & Immunology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital MedicalCenter and an AAAAI member, told Reuters Health that just the daybefore she had treated a nut-allergic child who developed areaction after eating a salad with cashews and banana bread withwalnuts at a pot-luck party. “This is a very typical story,” saidAssa’ad.

Parents of children with peanut or tree-nut allergies need to bevigilant about the food the child comes into contact with, andshould also carry an Epi-pen with them at all times, she added.

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - German researchers saythey have found some of the strongest evidence yet linking trafficpollution to childhood allergies.

The risk of developing asthma, hay fever, eczema or otherallergies is about 50 percent higher for children living 50 metres(yards) from a busy road than for those living 1,000 metres away,they said in a study released on Friday.

Previous research has linked pollution to allergies, but to dateobservational studies in the field have been inconsistent, saidJoachim Heinrich, an epidemiologist at the Helmholtz ResearchCentre for Environment and Health in Munich.