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.

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