Evaluation of a new pediatric asthma pilot program published in the Journal of Asthma showed that the average frequency of asthma inhaler technique errors among enrolled patients dropped from 80% to less than 20% in four weeks.
A new community-based approach to helping children manage their asthma symptoms will launch in up to 40 public, charter, and parochial schools across the Bronx, and enroll 416 students aged 4-12 years old. The five-year study, titled Evaluation of the Asthma Management Program to Promote Activity for Students in Schools (Asthma-PASS), is supported by a $4.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM).
This discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest that MUC5AC could become a target of better therapeutics to untangle the super thick and sticky mucus that plays a role in health problems for millions of people suffering from pulmonary conditions.
A new study published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society provides the most exhaustive look to date at the risk factors, prevalence and population attributable risk (PAR) of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in U.S. Hispanics/Latinos under age 50. PAR estimates the proportion of disease attributable to exposure to disease-causing agents, such as smoking. The researchers used PAR to calculate the burden of early COPD that would be eliminated if the exposure did not take place.
Ragweed levels are on the rise as the summer months draw to a close according to Rachna Shah, MD, a Loyola Medicine allergist who oversees the Loyola Medicine Daily Allergy Count. “A spike in ragweed tends to mark the informal start of the fall allergy season, which typically begins in mid-August,” says Dr. Shah.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that two populations of stem cells in the lung multiply during and after a viral respiratory infection, sometimes triggering a detrimental remodeling process that can cause persistent lung disease long after the virus has been cleared.
Expert Q&A: Do breakthrough cases mean we will soon need COVID boosters? The extremely contagious Delta variant continues to spread, prompting mask mandates, proof of vaccination, and other measures. Media invited to ask the experts about these and related topics.
An estimated 3 million asthmatics and over half of the states in the United States are being affected by particulates that are blowing over them from fires in Canada and the western U.S., according to new research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
The Red Tide Respiratory Forecast developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NOAA-NCCOS) in partnership with the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS), the state of Florida and others, is now fully supported and available to the public.
The end of summer means the beginning of fall allergy season. But you’ve probably already got at least one protective measure in place: your COVID-19 mask.
For parents of kids with allergies and asthma, preventing their kids from suffering flares of these conditions, along with preventing COVID-19, will top their priority list this school year.
A new study finds that manipulating the stiffness of the collagen-based support structure of airway cells could lead to a new treatment for asthma. The study is published ahead of print in the Journal of Applied Physiology. It was chosen as an APSselect article for June.
Women who were highly exposed to ultra-fine particles in air pollution during their pregnancy were more likely to have children who developed asthma, according to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in May. This is the first time asthma has been linked with prenatal exposure to this type of air pollution, which is named for its tiny size and which is not regulated or routinely monitored in the United States.
Type 2 diabetes patients who also have asthma are benefitting from a diabetes medication, typically given to help the pancreas produce more insulin, that also improves asthma symptoms and may reduce lung and airway inflammation.
Findings are from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data from 20 randomized controlled trials, which included a total of almost 12,000 patients, were analyzed in the study, providing strong and clear evidence in support of triple-drug therapy.
Results from the VOYAGE study of dupilumab (Dupixent) showed that the monoclonal antibody significantly reduced exacerbations in children ages 6-11 with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma, compared to placebo, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. VOYAGE (NCT02948959) is a recently completed randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind multicenter phase 3 clinical trial, that took place in a number of countries.
Results from the NAVIGATOR study of tezepelumab showed that the new biologic therapy significantly reduced exacerbations requiring hospital stays and emergency department (ED) visits for adults and adolescents with severe, uncontrolled asthma, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. NAVIGATOR (NCT03347279) is a recently completed randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind multicenter phase 3 clinical trial.
A national study on childhood asthma led by Henry Ford Health System has found that family history, race and sex are associated in different ways with higher rates of asthma in children.
In a study published in JAMA Pediatrics (hyperlink goes here), researchers found that children with at least one parent with a history of asthma had two to three times higher rates of asthma, mostly through age 4.
Individuals with asthma who live in redlined neighborhoods have worse lung function than those in locales that excluded Black people and benefited from decades of inequitable wealth accumulation at the expense of Black communities in the United States, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference.
While vaping is thought to be a safer alternative to smoking, teens and adults who use e-cigarettes have increased odds of developing asthma and having asthma attacks, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference.
This summer, camps for kids will not only have to protect kids from COVID-19, but kids with allergies and asthma will need to be kept safe from an allergic reaction or asthma flare.
Asthma exacerbations rose following a catastrophic Christmas Eve fire that destroyed pollution controls at the Clairton Coke Works – the largest such facility in the nation, a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health analysis concludes.
Wheezing, coughing that doesn’t stop, a pale and sweaty face: clinically, severe asthma attacks look very similar from patient to patient. But biologically, not all severe asthma is the same—and a team of scientists has, for the first time, identified the key difference in people, a finding that has important implications for treatment.
More than 91 percent of the world’s population lives in areas that exceed air quality guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization, and more people are impacted by worsening air quality each year. Ambient air pollution – including potentially harmful pollutants such as small particles and toxic gases emitted by industries, households, cars and trucks – has been shown to worsen viral respiratory infections. Now, new studies are showing a similar association between ambient air pollution and worse COVID-19 outcomes.
Topics surrounding asthma and power plant closures, illicit drug use and harm reduction, testing access for homeless, and varied support for pandemic measures will be highlighted in the May 2021 Issue of AJPH.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have implicated a type of immune cell in the development of chronic lung disease that sometimes is triggered following a respiratory viral infection. The evidence suggests that activation of this immune cell serves as an early switch that, when activated, drives progressive lung diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Researchers at Henry Ford Health System, as part of a national asthma collaborative, have identified a gene variant associated with childhood asthma that underscores the importance of including diverse patient populations in research studies.
The study is published in the print version of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has uncovered a previously unknown role for exosomes in inflammatory respiratory diseases. The study has implications for finding new therapies. Exosomes are tiny compartments released from cells that carry different types of cargo, including inflammatory chemicals called cytokines that can drive lung disease.
A new study looking at how COVID-19 affects people with asthma provides reassurance that having the condition doesn't increase the risk of severe illness or death from the virus.
Sensor-based inhalers integrated into health care providers’ clinical workflows may help improve medication adherence and support children with asthma – and their families – to more effectively manage this condition, according to a new Northwestern and Lurie Children’s study published in Pediatrics.
An ACAAI practice guideline offers new information on how to manage the symptoms that come with hay fever -- namely sneezing, itchy nose, runny nose, and congestion.
Those with asthma are experiencing less asthma control related to an increase in using household disinfectants — known asthma triggers — because of COVID-19, according to a survey co-conducted by University of Illinois Chicago researchers.
A new survey in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology shows that of those who used cannabis, about half smoked it while a third vaped – both “inhalation routes” likely to affect one’s lungs.
Awareness of guidelines to prevent COVID-19 is high among young asthma sufferers but around a third do not comply with them, according to a new survey published in the Journal of Asthma.
A new study published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society discusses a steep drop off from prior years in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits at Boston Children’s Hospital during the spring 2020 COVID-19 surge and lockdown.