Asthma

Patients in the United Kingdom who have been frequently admitted to the hospital for asthma benefit from a multidisciplinary team approach, according to the results of a recent study.

Perceived stress and atopic dermatitis (AD) are associated, a Korean study finds.

Researchers are investigating the possibility the upregulation of regulatory T (Treg) cells as a new therapy to persistently alleviate asthma. A mouse study yields promising results.

Adults with atopic dermatitis are at greater risk of systemic infections.

Previous research has concluded that acetaminophen (Tylenol) worsens disease activity in children with asthma; however, a new study refutes that finding in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Because those who experience BPD very early in life are believed to be at a higher risk of decreased lung function and other chronic breathing issues like apnea and asthma, the study of microbial balance in infant airways could provide doctors with important predictive information.

A recently released study from the University of Southampton argues that if a gene that causes airway remodeling can be turned off, remodeling can be reversed and asthma can be prevented.

A “banana apricot” scent can bind with the receptor, dilating the bronchi, allowing for easier breathing and counteracting the effects of histamines.

Moderate-to-severe asthmatics typically hover around 5% sputum eosophinal, with non-asthmatics under 1%. After the study, the average participant in the fevipiprant group saw a reduction from 5.4% to about 1.1%.

A recent study of children from two traditional, agrarian communities seems to indicate that environmental exposures experienced by Amish children dramatically reduce their predisposition to asthma.

Analysis revealed that adding mepolizumab resulted in a cost-effectiveness ratio of $385,546 per quality-adjusted life-year, or QALY; the price would need to be discounted by more than 70% to reach $100,000 per QALY, a common threshold at which insurers are willing to pay.

Hospital admission allows clinicians to optimize asthma management even when asthma patients have no breathing complaints or abnormal chest exam findings. Although the illness that prompted admission must be treated quickly, asthma care can also be discussed with patients.

A retrospective Australian study found that illicit drug users were almost four times as likely as nonusers to require intensive care for an asthma exacerbation.

Stepping down asthma therapy is often avoided because of fear of exacerbation, but a better understanding of factors that predict step-down outcomes could encourage clinicians to wean patients off medications appropriately.

One year after a one-day visit to a severe asthma center, patients with previously uncontrolled asthma had better asthma control and quality of life and used fewer healthcare resources.

After 6 months, an intervention program based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet increased the proportion of participants with uncontrolled asthma who achieved minimal clinically important improvement in asthma control.

Pulmonary rehabilitation programs could help more patients with respiratory conditions like severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but they are not used widely enough.

Study results show that the majority of adult-onset asthma patients had uncontrolled or poorly controlled asthma. A separate study found that exposure to bleach in the home increased the risk of non-allergic adult-onset asthma in women.

An asthma drug shows promise for atopic dermatitis--but its costly.

Asthma patients with eosinophilic inflammation respond well to corticosteroids and interleukin- 5 antagonists. The ability to identify eosinophil biomarkers specific to certain disease states could help clinicians refine therapies and determine which patients are likely to respond to them.

Although asthma outcomes are worse in minorities than in non-minorities, health interventions based on technologies like text messaging and video games can help bridge this gap.

You may have seen reports on the “treatment” on TV or heard that some of Beverley Hills’ richest citizens are raving about it, but whole body cryotherapy (WBC) doesn’t yet have the data to back up the many health benefits claimed by its boosters.

Clinicians often hear parents of asthmatic children tell them their child is wheezing. But parents' definition of wheezing usually is different from that of physicians.

At least 40% of asthma patients remain symptomatic despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroids with or without long-acting beta-2 agonists.

In the ten years since the US Surgeon General's ground-breaking report on the dangers of secondhand smoke, there has been much progress--and pockets of fierce resistance to smoking bans.

Researchers at The University of Queensland are currently testing a new drug with the potential to reverse, or even halt, the development of asthma.

Getting parents with children who have asthma to use primary care doctors to control the condition can be difficult in urban settings where emergency rooms are commonly used for asthma visits. A team reports on using electronic communications to get these patients to their PCPs instead.

Girls who are obese are more likely to also have asthma than are obese boys.

There is no proof of the added benefit of using umeclidinium bromide for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptom relief in patients.

Nearly 1 in 4 patients with COPD also suffers from depression, possibly increasing the risk of early hospital readmission for these patients if left untreated.