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Asthma News
Apr. 30, 2024 — A research team embarked on a quest to understand the diversity and cellular mechanisms of human Th2 cells. By conducting gene expression analyses of inflamed tissues, they pinpointed a subset of Th2 ...
Apr. 26, 2024 — In unincorporated communities in the United States-Mexico borderlands, historically and socially marginalized populations become invisible to the healthcare system, showing that geography acts as a ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — A new tool to identify infants most at risk for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) illness could aid pediatricians in prioritizing children under 1 to receive a preventive medication before RSV ...
Apr. 18, 2024 — A new study shows that immunity after a COVID-19 booster lasts much longer than the primary series alone. These findings are among other, sometimes 'unintuitive,' revelations of how factors ...
Apr. 18, 2024 — The first health impact study of coal train pollution centers on the San Francisco Bay Area, with scientists finding communities near passing coal trains suffer worse health ...
Apr. 10, 2024 — One of the molecules responsible for triggering the inflammation that causes allergic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and allergic rhinitis, has just been discovered. This molecule, from the ...
Apr. 4, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a new cause for asthma that sparks hope for treatment that could prevent the life-threatening ...
Apr. 4, 2024 — Researchers have made a breakthrough into how two chronic respiratory diseases in childhood affect the immune system, paving the way for better ...
Mar. 13, 2024 — Exposure to several combinations of toxic atmospheric pollutants may be triggering asthma symptoms among children, a recent analysis suggests. The study showed that 25 different combinations of air ...
Mar. 13, 2024 — Research finds a nearly 40% decline in the annual average concentration of respirable particulate matter (PM2.5) in Krakow, Poland, between 2010 and 2019 following the implementation of clean air ...
Mar. 12, 2024 — A new study finds that pollution from oil and gas venting and flaring results in $7.4 billion in health damages, more than 700 premature deaths, and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children ...
Mar. 12, 2024 — A new study finds that policies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from motor vehicles combined with investments in electric vehicles and public transportation would reduce air pollution and ...
Feb. 27, 2024 — Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a ...
Feb. 25, 2024 — A drug that binds to allergy-causing antibodies can protect children from dangerous reactions to accidentally eating allergy-triggering foods, a new study ...
Jan. 30, 2024 — Asthma is more common among high school students who use cannabis, relative to those who do not and the prevalence of asthma increases with the frequency of its use among the students, according to a ...
Jan. 8, 2024 — Measuring airborne grass allergen levels instead of pollen counts will be more beneficial for hay fever sufferers as new research shows grass allergen levels are more consistently associated with hay ...
Dec. 21, 2023 — Researchers have gained a deeper understanding of the nuanced roles of JAK inhibitors, or modulators, in inflammation across various cell types and ...
Dec. 8, 2023 — A landmark study has shown that severe asthma can be controlled using biologic therapies, without the addition of regular high-dose inhaled steroids which can have significant side ...
Dec. 6, 2023 — Researchers have identified an allergy pathway that, when blocked, unleashes antitumor immunity in mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). And in an early parallel study in humans, ...
Nov. 9, 2023 — A review of 15 years' worth of data found that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was linked to reduced rates of asthma and wheezing in children compared to standard prenatal ...
Thousands At Risk Of Undiagnosed Lung Conditions, Warns Charity
by Nic Paton 31 Jul 2024 Coughs and chest infections that keep on coming back can be early signs of an undiagnosed lung condition, Asthma + Lung UK has warnedShutterstockCoughs and chest infections that keep on coming back can be early signs of an undiagnosed lung condition, Asthma + Lung UK has warnedShutterstock
Thousands of people could be living undiagnosed with incurable lung conditions despite seeking medical help for coughs and chest infections, a charity has warned.
A survey of 12,000 people with lung conditions in the UK by Asthma + Lung UK found that, while more than half of respondents were treated for their immediate chest symptoms, they did not have the underlying cause investigated at the time.
Coughs and chest infections that keep on coming back can be early warning signs of a lung condition such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the charity has warned.
The survey also found one in five of all respondents had to wait more than a year for an accurate diagnosis of a chronic lung condition.
The charity is arguing that the root of the problem is the fact that simple tests for diagnosing lung conditions are not widely available to healthcare professionals, forcing them to take a 'sticking plaster' approach to treating chest symptoms, but not the cause.
Combined with pressures in primary care, this means the early tell-tale signs of a lung condition are too often missed, leaving people with breathing difficulties without an accurate diagnosis, or receiving treatment for conditions they don't have.
Currently, 1.7 million people are living with COPD in the UK, and around 600,000 are living undiagnosed, Asthma + Lung UK has highlighted.
Previous analysis commissioned by the charity has shown that as many as 750,000 people in England are misdiagnosed with asthma, costing an estimated £132m every year.
Data also shows that, after a referral to see a specialist, two in five people are not starting treatment within the recommended timeframe of 18 weeks, and more than 6,000 are waiting more than a year.
Early detection in primary care is crucial for treating and managing lung conditions such COPD, which includes emphysema, or protecting people from potentially life-threatening asthma attacks.
It can also lead to a reduction in hospital admissions and improvement in quality of life and healthy life expectancy.
Yet the charity has argued that many people seen in GP surgeries, A&E and urgent care centres with chest symptoms may have undiagnosed lung conditions, which are potential missed opportunities for starting a process of early diagnosis and preventing further ill health.
The UK has the worst death rates from lung conditions in Europe and tackling diagnosis could help people stay well and save lives, it has added.
As a result, it is now calling on government to provide long-term funding for GP practices to deliver testing for lung conditions, including spirometry and FeNO (fractional exhaled nitric oxide).
It also wants to see national diagnosis targets for lung conditions to ensure nobody waits more than six weeks for a diagnostic test, and for waiting lists to be halved by 2028.
Sarah Sleet, CEO at Asthma + Lung UK, said: "People who are struggling to breathe face agonising waits for an accurate diagnosis. They're being misdiagnosed, or diagnosed too late, or are not put on the right treatment. As a result, the pressures on the NHS grow and grow with more emergency admissions and hospital stays. We need lung conditions to be treated as seriously as cancer and heart disease.
"A sticking plaster approach of treating symptoms, not the underlying cause, means too many people with lung conditions go undiagnosed for far too long. The new government's commitment to rebalancing spending between primary care and secondary care is very welcome.
"We are calling for funding for GP practices to provide rapid testing for everyone experiencing signs of a lung condition. We also need national targets for diagnosis and specialist treatment to drive faster diagnosis and provide quicker access to the right course of treatment so people with lung conditions can slow down the progression of their illness and better manage their symptoms," Sleet added.
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Nic PatonNic Paton is consulting editor of OHW+. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for OHW+ and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.
Early Antibiotic Use Raises Asthma Risk, But New Gut Bacteria Molecule Offers Hope
Early exposure to antibiotics can trigger long term susceptibility to asthma, according to new research from Monash University. Importantly the research team isolated a molecule produced by gut bacteria that in the future could potentially be trialed as a simple treatment, in the form of a dietary supplement, for children at risk of asthma to prevent them developing the disease (1✔ ✔Trusted SourceRelationships between antibiotic exposure and asthma in adults in the United States: results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018Go to source). Gut Bacteria Molecule Linked to Asthma Protection, Highlights Antibiotic Risks Asthma affects over 260 million people globally and causes around 455,000 deaths annually. The research led by Professor Ben Marsland and published today (TBC) in the journal, Immunity – found a molecule, called IPA, that is crucial to long term protection against asthma. 'Did You Know?Over 260 million people affected by asthma could benefit from IPA molecule research. #asthmaprevention #guthealth #medindia' Importantly the finding of the molecule produced by bacteria in a healthy gut provides an explanation as to why the recurrent use of antibiotics increases the risk of asthma, according to Professor Marsland. "We know that recurrent use of antibiotics early in life disrupts a person's healthy gut microbiota and increases the risk of allergies and asthma. We have discovered that a consequence of antibiotic treatment is the depletion of bacteria that produce IPA, thus reducing a key molecule that has the potential to prevent asthma," he said.The first years of life are important in developing a stable gut microbiota, according to Professor Marsland. "It is shaped first by food intake - both milk and solid foods – as well as genetics, and environmental exposures. Infants at high risk of allergies and asthma have been shown to have a disrupted and delayed maturation of the gut microbiome," he said.
New Molecule Offers Hope for Prevention "The use of antibiotics in the first year of life can have the unintentional effect of reducing bacteria which promote health, and we now know from this research that antibiotics lead to reduced IPA, which we have found is critical early in life as our lung cells mature, making it a candidate for early life prevention of allergic airway inflammation." Working in mice predisposed to develop asthma, the research team found that - when given antibiotics in early life - the mice were more susceptible to house-dust mite-induced allergic airway inflammation and this lasted into adulthood. Asthma is commonly triggered by exposure to house dust mites.This susceptibility was maintained long-term, even after the gut microbiome and IPA levels returned to normal, highlighting that this molecule's function was particularly important early in life.
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When these mice had their diet supplemented with the IPA molecule early in life, the researchers found that the mice were effectively cured of developing the house dust mite induced allergic airway inflammation, or asthma, in adulthood.Reference:
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