Asthma News and Research

RSS

Asthma is a common inflammatory disease affecting the airways that leads to shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing. Symptoms range from mild to severe but are generally manageable with appropriate treatment.

Large precentage of extremely low-birth-weight children develop chronic problems

A new study published this week has found that babies who weigh only 2.2 pounds (1 kg) or less at birth are much more likely than those with normal weight to develop chronic physical and mental problems by the age of eight.

21 Jul 2005

Human dummy to teach medics

A new way to teach medical students will be demonstrated for the first time at Bristol University on 21 July 2005, during a joint meeting of the Physiological Society and the Federation of European Physiological Societies.

21 Jul 2005

Study suggests that adult patients with persistent asthma from inner-city populations are not being optimally evaluated

Adults with moderate and severe asthma may not have received optimal evaluation to determine if they were allergic to indoor allergens. Allergy and exposure to several indoor allergens like cockroach, dust mite, molds, and pets can play an important role in the worsening of asthma.

21 Jul 2005

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005

The adolescent birth rate has reached another record low, the death rate for children between ages 1 and 4 is the lowest ever, young children are more likely to receive their recommended immunizations, and fourth graders are scoring better in math, according to a yearly compendium of statistics from federal agencies concerned with children.

20 Jul 2005

Study warns against global use of old asthma medicines for kids' coughs

An asthma medicine widely used around the world to stop children's coughs has no provable benefit for that purpose and may cause harm, a new review of existing studies reports.

19 Jul 2005

Asthma may be linked to a decreased risk of brain cancer

According to new research there is a suggestion that gene variants known to raise the risk of asthma, might also decrease the risk of a common type of brain cancer that progresses rapidly and is fatal.

18 Jul 2005

Individuals with inactive heterozygous ALDH2, a tendency to alcohol flushing have a greater susceptibility to hangovers

Alcohol consumption is an integral part of the Japanese business culture. Hangovers, however, can have substantial economic drawbacks.

17 Jul 2005

Having asthma, hay fever or another allergic condition may reduce the risk of developing Glioblastoma multiforme

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) affects three out of 100,000 people, a rate that quadruples to 13 out 100,000 among people who are 65 and older. The average five-year survival rate from the time of diagnosis for GBM is only 3.3 percent, and is lower for people 65 and older.

15 Jul 2005

FDA panel says asthma drugs should stay on market but must carry warnings

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has declared that three asthma drugs are safe enough to stay on the market, after concerns that in rare cases they raise the risk of severe asthma.

14 Jul 2005

Sirna Therapeutics granted new UK patents

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that the United Kingdom (UK) Patent Office has granted the Company two additional short interfering RNA (siRNA) target patents. The first patent covers any siRNA with one or more chemical modifications targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).

12 Jul 2005

Many local health directors unsure of authority to curtail smoking

Local health department directors across North Carolina are confused about state laws covering whether their facilities can be made smoke-free, but still strongly support such policies, according to a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study.

11 Jul 2005

Research discovers new deadly link to sickle cell disease

A new study led by a researcher at Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland is the first to find that an amino acid deficiency in sickle cell disease is the result of hemolysis, a process where red blood cells rupture and release their contents into the blood stream. Low availability of the amino acid arginine is associated with lung disease and death in adult sickle cell patients.

6 Jul 2005

Asthma and the Older Australian: What we know and what we need to do

New asthma research indicates that as many as a third of people +55 years old may be living with undiagnosed asthma and that a high prevalence of asthma in an ageing population will impose an increasing burden on the health system and the Australian economy in the future.

6 Jul 2005

Disruption of a single gene, Nrf2, plays a critical role in determining the susceptibility to asthma

A research team led by Shyam Biswal , PhD, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found the absence of Nrf2 exacerbated allergen-mediated asthma in mice models.

5 Jul 2005

Health costs soar as 60 million Americans classed as obese

According to a new study the amount of money spent treating obesity-related health problems in the U.S. has increased tenfold over 15 years.

28 Jun 2005

Greater use of evidence-based medicine needed in US outpatient care

Although the quality of outpatient care in the United States has improved over the last decade, greater use of evidence-based medicine is needed, however, and quality of care is not significantly associated with the patient's racial or ethnic background, according to a study in the June 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

27 Jun 2005

Gleevec or similar drugs might be useful in preventing adverse side effects of smallpox vaccine

Mice given a relatively new cancer drug can survive an otherwise lethal dose of vaccinia virus, a relative of smallpox virus, report scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

27 Jun 2005

Finding may impact understanding of mechanical facets of many diseases

An international team led by Jeffrey J. Fredberg, professor of bioengineering and physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, has found that the cell modulates its mechanical properties in much the same way as a glassblower shapes fine glassware.

20 Jun 2005

Australian scientists develop unique animal model for asthma

The State Government of Victoria, Australia has announced that Melbourne veterinary scientists have developed a unique animal model for asthma that may help drug companies fast track the creation of therapies for the disease.

19 Jun 2005