Asthma is a chronic (long-lasting) inflammatory disease of the airways. In those susceptible to asthma, this inflammation causes the airways to narrow periodically. This, in turn, produces wheezing and breathlessness, sometimes to the point where the patient gasps for air.
Some patients with severe asthma who also have allergic sensitivity to certain fungi enjoy great improvements in their quality of life and on other measures after taking an antifungal drug. – Up to 150,000 people suffering from severe asthma in the UK could benefit from taking antifungal medication already available from pharmacists, new research has found.
Timing is Everything When it Comes to Childhood Asthma. There is a relationship between childhood asthma with the winter season after birth. – Children who are born four months before the peak of cold and flu season have a greater risk of developing childhood asthma than children born at any other time of year, according to new research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Factors identified causing barriers to asthma care – access to appropriate care, patient adherence, distrust of the medical profession, delayed asthma diagnosis, culture, lifestyle choices and genetic discrepancies – Barriers to managing asthma include access to appropriate care, patient adherence, distrust of the medical profession, delayed asthma diagnosis, culture, lifestyle choices and genetic discrepancies according to experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Seattle.
Childhood wheezing with rhinovirus can increase asthma risk later during childhood. – Infants who experience viral respiratory illnesses with wheezing are known to be at increased risk for developing asthma later during childhood. It is not known, however, whether every type of respiratory virus that produces wheezing presents similar risk.
This study provides further worldwide evidence that the use of paracetamol in childhood can increase the risk of developing asthma and related allergic disorders. – A strong association between paracetamol use in infancy and increased risk of asthma by age 6-7 years, suggested by researchers in a new study published in the Lancet.
Asthma in boys may be just a phase, but for girls it may be there to stay. Airway responsiveness is more severe in the postpubertal female with asthma than in males. – Boys may be more apt than girls to have childhood asthma, but, when compared to girls, they are also more likely to grow out of it in adolescence and have a decreased incidence of asthma in the post-pubertal years. This indicates that there may be a buried mechanism in asthma development, according to a prospective study that analyzed airway responsiveness (AR) in more than 1,000 children with mild to moderate asthma over a period of about nine years.
This study provides evidence on the relationship between maternal diet during pregnancy and longitudinal development of childhood asthma. Daily consumption of nut products increased the risk of asthma outcomes during the first 8 years of life. – Expectant mothers who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter daily during pregnancy increase their children’s risk of developing asthma by more than 50 percent over women who rarely or never consume nut products during pregnancy, according to new research from the Netherlands.
First-born babies’ higher asthma and allergy rates due to pregnancy conditions. Allergic reactions are programmed during pregnancy and then effect the disease in later life. – First-born children are at higher risk of developing asthma and allergy because of different conditions they experience in the uterus, revealed by researchers.
Oral administration of the purple passion fruit peel extract reduces wheeze and cough and improves shortness of breath in adults with asthma – Passion fruit peel can significantly improve the symptoms of asthma. Patients given an extract from the Purple passion fruit’s peel had reduced wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, due to anti-oxidant, anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties of Purple passion fruit.
A new research from University of Otago revealed that the obesity can worsen the impact of asthma and may also increase its severity, published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. – Obesity can worsen the impact of asthma and may also increase its severity, according to new University of Otago research.
