Pressure is mounting on the NHS to widen the use of a “wonder” drug that could help hundreds of thousands of severe asthma sufferers.

Currently, most of the 250,000 UK patients who suffer from severe allergic asthma are prescribed powerful oral steroids.

They cause patients to gain significant amounts of weight and eventually develop diabetes, cataracts and glaucoma. About half go on to suffer from osteoporosis and other suffer from depression, anxiety and even growth retardation. That has to be worth reducing.”

Tags: Asthma, Oral Steroids, steroids

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A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and other institutions has suggested that dose changes (steroids) and/or addition of new drugs to the asthma therapy can provide relief to patients.

Robert C. Strunk, M.D., and Leonard B. Bacharier, M.D., both Washington University pediatric asthma specialists at St. Louis Children’s Hospital were co-authors for this study.

The study was published online March 2, 2010, by the New England Journal of Medicine and presented the same day at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Tags: Asthma, asthma therapy, corticosteroid, Prednisone, steroids

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Interferon, an immune-system protein already used for treating health complications like hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of cancers, could be used for granting relief to patients afflicted with asthma.

This finding was disclosed by researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center. It was also suggested that interferon can prove out to be a readily available and valuable therapy for treating asthmatic patients.

The study was funded by Exxon Mobil Corp and the National Institutes of Health and the findings appeared in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology.

Tags: Asthma, GATA3, hepatitis C, interferon, multiple sclerosis, steroids

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Findings of a new study have indicated that patients afflicted with difficult-to-control asthma are often not taking their anti-asthma medication as prescribed by their doctor.

Dr. Liam G. Heaney at Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and colleagues found that about 5 percent of adults with asthma remain difficult to control, with persistent symptoms and frequent flare-ups even with they were prescribed high doses of steroids.

Heaney and colleagues concluded that asthma could probably improve substantially if patients emphasize upon regular preventative therapy (as prescribed).

Tags: Asthma, Inhaled steroids, prednisolone, steroids

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According to a work published in The Cochrane Library this month, there is no evidence to suggest that increasing the dose of inhaled corticosteroids at the onset of an asthma exacerbation as part of a patient-initiated action plan minimizes the need for rescue oral corticosteroids.

Lead researcher Francine Ducharme, who works at the University of Montreal, Canada remarked that keeping to a constant dose has the potential of reinforcing the effectiveness of taking daily inhaled corticosteroids, not only during exacerbations and/or encourage the search for more effective strategies.

ucharme also said that more pediatric studies are needed to guide treatment of exacerbations and the best approach would be all about preventing an exacerbation by ensuring regular use of inhaled corticosteroids.

Tags: Asthma, inhaled corticosteroids, oral corticosteroids

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Asthma is one of the most prevalent diseases in today’s times with more than 5 million people being affected with the disease in the United Kingdom alone.

According to a major study in the UK that was highlighted by the researchers examining the medical records of 900,000 asthma patients across the UK, non-prescription of the most suitable inhalers is the biggest reason why asthma sufferers are dying needlessly.

The study compared asthma control levels and the need and quantity of doctor appointments for patients making use of different devices and it was disclosed that asthma patients had far better control over their disease by making use of inhalers they would activate by breathing in, when compared with the traditional devices commonly recommended by medical practitioners.

Tags: antibiotics, Asthma, asthma control, inhalers, steroids

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Sinusitis is a health complication that affects nearly 37 million people in the United States alone and a big part of this affected population also suffers from asthma that is an inflammatory disease of the lungs characterized by obstruction of reversible airway.

A study was entailed to find out the variations in sinusitis symptoms noticed by asthmatics versus non-asthmatics and the authors of “The Incidence and the Effect of Asthma on Consecutive Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis,” were Melanie W. Seybt MD, Kevin C. McMains MD, and Stilianos E. Kountakis MD PhD, all with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY.

Tags: Asthma, intranasal steroids, sinusitis, steroids

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Being overweight or obese does not make asthma worse in patients with mild and moderate forms of the health complication, as per researchers from National Jewish Health. It was, however, noted by the researchers that it could minimize the response to medications.

Lead author E. Rand Sutherland, Associate Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health said that the findings suggest that asthma improvement may not necessarily result from loss of weight.

Dr. Sutherland said the data suggest that obese and overweight people respond less well to asthma controller medications when compared to their leaner counterparts.

Tags: Asthma, corticosteroids, obesity, steroids

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Cells that could possibly play an important role in some forms of steroid-resistant asthma, a complication of the condition that makes treatment even more challenging, have been identified by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Study’s senior author, Jay K. Kolls, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy and Immunology at Children’s Hospital, remarked that the identification of a lineage of cells called as T Helper Type 17 (Th17) could assist scientists in developing new treatments for exercising a better control on the disease.

The study was published in an issue of the Journal of Immunology.

Tags: Asthma, Inhaled steroids, steroid, steroids

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New study results have suggested that some children suffering with asthma may respond differently to steroids when compared to other asthmatic children, according to a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society.

It was remarked by Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston that young children tend to demonstrate the same negative response to high doses of steroids as adult asthmatic patients.

Sawicki further said that results of this study suggest that not every child afflicted with asthma shows same response to treatment based on steroids.

Tags: Asthma, asthma management, steroid, steroids

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