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Low Iga levels and Asthma

8 replies

Overrun · 13/05/2006 13:45

My DS has a diagnosis of Asthma, which he got at the tender age of 14 months, early I know! A blood test also revealed that he has low Iga levels, I know plenty of other children with Asthma but have not come across any one with low Iga levels before, any information appreciated.

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zippitippitoes · 13/05/2006 13:49

Overrun...what are Iga levels?

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Overrun · 13/05/2006 17:09

They are something to do with Immunoglobin levels, I think, it means that his antibodies don't work so well, and he is more prone to infections

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festiveface · 13/05/2006 17:24

my ds had a blood test after suffering the worst hayfever and repeated bugs/virus' and it showed a few o his immunoglobulins were low and some of vaccinations he'd had as a baby hadn't taken effect, HIB and something else.
He was given pneumovax to try and boost him but it didn't.
every so often he has had a blood test but to be honest the appointments hes been to have just been to ask how he is and nothings been done/ changed.
it started at the age of 3 and he's now 7 and is supposed to be being discharged after the next appointment.
can't offer much advice as obviously not adoc but thought it might help to hear of someone similar. I have not heard of anyone else till now either!

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kael · 13/05/2006 17:27

My ds has/had low IgA levels and had food allergies when he was younger, no asthma though. IgA protects mucosal surfaces, including in the lungs, but I'm don't know if that means it can be linked to the development of asthma.

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Overrun · 13/05/2006 17:39

I find it really hard to assess what is what, is it Asthma, low Iga (which Doctors say is very low but are also reasurring/dismissive off. He has constant runny nose, and cold, but not really bad chest infections like children with low Iga are supposed to have.
I have Asthma so kind of expected him to have it, but they keep putting him on more and more inhalers, he is now on adult doses and one inhaler is not supposed to be used under four and he has only just turned three. I think I have trusted medical advice implicitly, but am now wondering if I should explore other avenues in conjunction with traditional medicine.
It is really worrying.

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Overrun · 13/05/2006 17:43

Sorry I should have said, that it is good to hear from people whose children have had this too, interesting that they are all boys isn't it?

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kael · 13/05/2006 17:46

Apparently children with food allergies often have low levels of IgA. Constantly runny nose can be a sign of dairy allergy. Might be worth do discuss this with his doctor? Don’t know anything about asthma. Sorry this is so worrying!

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Overrun · 13/05/2006 18:18

We did do the whold dairy free thing when he was about 16 months old, at first we thought there was a slight improvement and then it tailed off, so in the end the Dr said not to bother. It is a major undertaking because there a lot of things with hidden dairy in them. At the time a dietician I spoke to, said that goats milk and soya milk were not much better for allergies, just different types.
The worse thing is, that I am talking of ds1 here, my other two ds's seem to be going down the same route, but no firm diagnosis yet.
But thanks for that Kael, it might be worth looking into again