As many as one in five youngsters with asthma may grow out of the respiratory condition as they age, new research indicates.

Girls and those who are allergic to furry animals, such as dogs and cats, may be out of luck, however. The study found that remission was less likely in such children.

Swedish researchers who followed more than 200 children with asthma found that at 19 years of age, 21 percent were in remission, meaning they had no wheeze or need for inhalers. Remission was more common among boys, they found.

"Sensitization to furred animals and a more severe asthma at age 7 to 8 years were both inversely associated with remission," said study author Dr. Martin Andersson, who is part of the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden studies.

Still, even those allergic to furry animals with severe asthma at a young age had an 18 percent shot at remission, according to the study, published online July 29 in the journal Pediatrics.

As children with asthma grow into adulthood, many stop experiencing the shortness of breath and wheezing that characterize the chronic airway disease. Doctors will rarely say a child has outgrown asthma, because there's always the possibility it will come back if someone is exposed to significant enough asthma triggers. Instead, they refer to someone who hasn't had symptoms in a long time as being in remission.

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