Related topics: children
Asthma
hideAsthma is a chronic inflammation of the lungs in which the airways (bronchi) are reversibly narrowed. Asthma affects 7% of the population, and 300 million worldwide. During attacks (exacerbations), the smooth muscle cells in the bronchi constrict, and the airways become inflamed and swollen. Breathing becomes difficult, and asthma causes 4,000 deaths a year in the U.S. Attacks can be prevented by avoiding triggering factors and by drug treatment. Drugs are used for acute attacks, commonly inhaled β2-agonists. In more serious cases, drugs are used for long-term prevention, starting with inhaled corticosteroids, and then long-acting β2-agonists if necessary. Leukotriene antagonists are less effective than corticosteroids but have no side effects. Monoclonal antibodies such as mepolizumab and omalizumab are sometimes effective. Prognosis is good with treatment.
In contrast to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic bronchitis, the inflammation of asthma is reversible. In contrast to emphysema, asthma affects the bronchi, not the alveoli.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute defines asthma as a common chronic disorder of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (bronchospasm), and an underlying inflammation.
Public attention in the developed world has recently focused on asthma because of its rapidly increasing prevalence, affecting up to one in four urban children.
For more information about Asthma, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with asthma
Oral contraceptives may benefit women with asthma
Nov 05, 2009 |
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New research shows that during natural menstrual cycles, women with asthma who were not taking oral contraceptives (OC) had lower exhaled nitric oxide levels (eNO), a marker of airway inflammation associated with asthma, ...
Acetaminophen may be linked to asthma in children and adults
Nov 05, 2009 |
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New research shows that the widely used pain reliever acetaminophen may be associated with an increased risk of asthma and wheezing in both children and adults exposed to the drug.
Study finds big air pollution impacts on local communities
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely ...
Study links folic acid supplements to asthma
Nov 04, 2009 |
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A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades.
New Mount Sinai research finds 9/11 responders twice as likely to have asthma
Nov 03, 2009 |
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First responders who were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks suffer from asthma at more than twice the rate of the general U.S. population, according ...
FDA panel backs first non-drug asthma treatment
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Federal health advisers on Wednesday said a novel technology from a small medical technology firm should be approved as the first non-drug treatment for asthma.
Fibre may keep asthma, diabetes at bay, study finds
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Insoluble dietary fibre, or roughage, not only keeps you regular, say Australian scientists, it also plays a vital role in the immune system, keeping certain diseases at bay.
'Difficult-to-treat asthma' may be due to difficult-to-treat patients
Oct 23, 2009 |
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Difficult-to-treat asthma often may have more to do with patients who do not take their medication as instructed than ineffective medication, according to researchers in Northern Ireland.
Optimized inhaler mouthpiece design allows for more effective drug delivery
Oct 21, 2009 |
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Researchers have developed an optimized mouthpiece design to aid efficient drug delivery to the lungs by reducing the amount of medication wasted as it passes through the mouthpiece of an aerosol inhaler. With current inhaler ...
Researcher finds there could be up to 200 cold viruses
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Bad news for the immune system: New research has boosted the number of likely common-cold viruses waiting to make you miserable from the long-accepted 100 to perhaps double that number.
New research reveals 41 percent increase in children's short stay hospital admissions
Oct 15, 2009 |
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The number of children being admitted to hospitals in England for short stays increased by 41 per cent between 1996 and 2006, according to research published in PLoS One today. The authors of the study, from Imperial Colleg ...
Near half of swine flu patients otherwise healthy
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The largest U.S. analysis of adult hospitalized swine flu patients has found that 46 percent did not have asthma or any other underlying condition.
US asthma researchers more open than UK scientists to the inclusion of ethnic minorities
Oct 13, 2009 |
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New findings reveal a large gap between US and UK researchers in terms of policy, attitudes, practices and experiences in relation to including ethnic minorities in asthma research. The study, published this week in the open ...
Impaired foetal growth increases risk of asthma
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study from Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) shows that children born with low birth weight are at a higher risk of developing asthma later in life. The study, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, is bas ...
UQ researcher on the hunt for viruses
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UQ scientist Ian Mackay is always on the lookout for that lucky find - well, if you consider unknown strains of the common cold virus lucky.
