Asthma News and Research

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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.

Indiana health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine

Indiana State health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine to immunizing people at high risk from complications of influenza.

6 Oct 2004

Australian researchers hunt for eczema genes

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) is halfway through a major project examining possible genetic causes of atopic dermatitis which is the most common form of eczema.

6 Oct 2004

Eight out of ten women take some form of therapeutic drugs during pregnancy

The advice from the British National Formulary (British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain) is that all drugs should be avoided if possible during the first three months – and only prescribed at all if the benefits to the mother outweigh the risk to the foetus.

6 Oct 2004

Influenza is a contagious disease caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family

Influenza (or as it is commonly known, the flu) is a contagious disease caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family (The orthomyxoviridae is a family of RNA viruses which infect vertebrate).

6 Oct 2004

A new study shows that sick children can go home from the hospital more quickly

A new study shows that sick children can go home from the hospital more quickly, less expensively and with less chance of a repeat visit if children's hospitals use a unique source of national data to check their performance against other children's hospitals and show them where they can improve.

5 Oct 2004

Number of low birth weight infants born in America rose between 1990 and 2000

The number of low birth weight infants born in America’s 100 largest cities and their suburbs rose between 1990 and 2000, placing more babies at greater risk for critical health problems

5 Oct 2004

People with asthma can drink milk too!

Got asthma but want milk? Breathe easy, drink up and rest assured that your three daily serves of dairy foods will not trigger or exacerbate your asthma symptoms.

5 Oct 2004

UK's Department of Health flu immunisation campaign launches

Manchester United's Paul Scholes is backing the UK's Department of Health flu immunisation campaign, which launched today.

4 Oct 2004

New technique to treat condition called funnel chest, or pectus excavatum

Children and teenagers who suffer from a condition called funnel chest, or pectus excavatum, in which the chest wall becomes caved-in, now have a safe, effective and simpler surgical alternative to correct the condition, according to an article in a recent issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

4 Oct 2004

Reducing eosinophilic airway inflammation in severe asthma

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell that constitute from 1 to 3 percent of the total white cell count. When foreign substances or infectious cells enter the body, lymphocytes and neutrophils attract eosinophils which release toxic substances that can destroy abnormal cells. Eosinophils function in allergic responses and in helping resist some infections.

4 Oct 2004

Dust collected from the homes of children with persistent allergic symptoms had higher levels of common chemical additives

Dust collected from the homes of children with persistent allergic symptoms had higher levels of certain phthalates, a class of common chemical additives, in it than dust found in homes of children without symptoms, according to a study published in the October 2004 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

29 Sep 2004

Cutting levels of household allergens is unlikely to have much impact on childhood asthma

Cutting levels of household allergens, such as cat dander and dust mite, is unlikely to have much impact on the subsequent development of childhood asthma and respiratory allergies, suggests research in Thorax.

29 Sep 2004

New funding for Scottish scientists to tackle diseases such as asthma and multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen have been awarded £196,166 to help fund pioneering research, which is exploring a method of combating certain conditions and diseases such as asthma and multiple sclerosis.

29 Sep 2004

Charles Darwin University is responding to claims that Australians are now among the fattest people on earth

Australia's Charles Darwin University is responding to claims that Australians are now among the fattest people on earth with a health program targeting childhood obesity.

29 Sep 2004

Master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have identified a master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant takes. The findings could have implications for treating premature babies and children and adults with lung disease or lung injury.

28 Sep 2004

New type of regulatory T cell that reduces asthma and airway inflammation

The team's research not only provides a detailed profile of these newfound cells but also sheds light on how such cells are related to other T cells and suggests that there exists a spectrum of regulatory T cells, known as Tregs, to be identified and studied.

26 Sep 2004

American Lung Association launches online flu shot locator

Possibility of developing drug therapies that target eosinophils, white blood cells long known to be associated with the asthma

The studies discount a 2000 study published in The Lancet which concluded that eosinophils do not have a significant role in the development of asthma in humans.

18 Sep 2004