الفهرس 
Title: Can zinc supplementation improve the control of persistent asthma in children ?
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Abstract
Asthma is a common disease in children. It is usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation. It is defined by the history of respiratory symptoms such as wheezes, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough that vary over time and in intensity, together with variable airflow limitation.This study was conducted at Allergy and Pulmonology Unit, Children’s Hospital, Cairo University. It included 50 Egyptian children and adolescents with different grades of persistent asthma.Full history, clinical examination, serum zinc level and pulmonary function tests before and after zinc supplementation were done to evaluate whether zinc supplementation improve the control of persistent asthma symptoms in children.There was significant improvement in decreasing frequency of attacks (P=0.036), nocturnal symptoms (P{u02C2} 0.001) and clinical control of asthma symptoms (P{u02C2}0.001) after zinc supplementation compared to pre-zinc supplementation but there was no significant difference in frequency of daytime symptoms, limitation of activities or need for reliever medications.In patient group with initial low serum zinc level, there was significant improvement in nocturnal symptoms (P{u02C2} 0.001) and clinical control of asthma symptoms (P= 0.006) after zinc supplementation compared to pre-zinc supplementation but there was no significant difference in decreasing frequency of attacks , daytime symptoms , limitation of activities or need for reliever medications.Zinc supplementation had a significant effect in all pulmonary functions including FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio.In patient group with initial low serum zinc level, there was significant improvement in FEV1 (P{u02C2}0.001) and FVC (P=0.002) with no significant improvement in FEV1/FVC ratio after zinc supplementation compared to pre-zinc supplementation The study concluded that zinc supplementation improves most of clinical and pulmonary functions in children with persistent asthma