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Asthma -- Acute Blog

Related terms: Acute Asthma, Asthma with Status Asthmaticus

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Seniors Undertreated for Asthma, and Many Skip Inhalers: Study

Posted 1 May 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 1 – Asthma often is misdiagnosed and undertreated in older people, with only 53 percent of those with asthma using prescribed inhalers, a small new study suggests. The study included 77 people, including people both with and without asthma, who were over age 60. Of those with asthma, 89 percent also had allergies to mold, animals or dust mites. The asthma patients were more likely than those without asthma to have hay fever, arthritis, diabetes, higher levels of pain and poor general health than those without asthma. The study appears in the May issue of the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "Those with asthma reported more infections, physician visits and impact on health, yet only half are regularly treating the disease," lead author and allergist Dr. Andrew Smith said in a journal news release. "Patients should regularly carry and take prescribed asthma ... Read more

Alternative Therapies Aren't Used as Substitutes for Asthma Meds: Study

Posted 13 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 13 – Almost one in five parents has turned to an alternative or complementary medicine or treatment for their child's asthma, but new research has found that parents are not abandoning traditional treatments in the process. "We found that there were really no differences between the groups that used complementary and alternative medicine and those that didn't [in terms of adherence]. It seems that parents are using these therapies as complementary medicine alongside prescribed asthma treatments," said study author Dr. Julie Philp, a pediatrician and a dermatology resident at the University of California, San Francisco. Results of the study were released online and published in the May issue of Pediatrics. Complementary and alternative medicine includes health care practices that aren't usually included in more conventional medicine. Such treatment may include herbal ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Maintenance, Asthma -- Acute, Herbal Supplementation

Rapid Asthma Treatment in ER May Prevent Admission

Posted 6 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 6 – Rapid treatment with asthma medications seems to help reduce hospitalizations among children with asthma, a new study finds. Canadian researchers analyzed data from 406 children and found that those with moderate or severe asthma attacks who received systemic corticosteroids within 75 minutes of arriving at a hospital emergency department were 16 percent less likely to be admitted to the hospital. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation. The findings illustrate the importance of rapidly identifying and treating children with asthma when they arrive at an emergency department, the researchers said. The study was recently published online in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine. "We knew that corticosteroids could help avoid hospital admissions and relapses. However, just how delays between emergency department admission and administration of the treatment impacted ... Read more

High Out-of-Pocket Costs for Kids' Asthma Drugs Could Pose Dangers

Posted 27 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 27 – When health insurers require parents to pay a larger share of the cost of asthma medications for their children, more kids need emergency asthma treatment, suggests new research. For children older than 5, higher out-of-pocket costs results in a small reduction in medication use and greater rates of hospitalization for asthma complications, the study found. "Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. We looked at adherence to asthma medications that are intended to be taken year-round to prevent exacerbations [flare-ups]," said one of the study's authors, Dr. Anupam Jena, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a senior fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California. Jena said that adherence rates for these medications – the rate at which patients stick to ... Read more

Home-Visit Program May Improve Child's Asthma

Posted 23 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 23 – A home-visit program for children with asthma reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits, improved patient outcomes and saved $1.46 for every dollar spent, according to a new study. Researchers examined the impact of the Community Asthma Initiative, a community-based asthma care program for low-income families, developed and implemented in 2005 by a team at Children's Hospital Boston. The program includes nurse case management and care coordination combined with home visits by a nurse or community health worker to educate families about asthma, assess the home for asthma triggers, and provide materials and services to reduce asthma attacks, such as HEPA vacuums (which have high-efficiency air filters), special bedding covers and pest control. The study included 283 families with children who had been hospitalized or who had made emergency department ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Acute, Allergic Asthma

Asthmatic Moms Who Breast-feed May Help Their Children's Lungs

Posted 3 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Feb. 3 – Breast-feeding is associated with improved lung function in school-age children, particularly those with asthmatic mothers, a new study says. Swiss and U.K. researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,500 U.K. children who were born between 1993 and 1997. Questionnaires were used to assess the duration of breast-feeding, other exposures, and respiratory symptoms. The children's lung function was measured when they were 12 years old. Breast-fed kids overall had a "modest improvement" in forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF50), which measures the amount and speed of air that comes out of the lung during the middle portion of a forced exhale. But breast-fed kids whose mothers also had asthma also did better on two other lung function tests, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1), according to Dr. Claudia Kuehni, a professor at the Institute of ... Read more

Asthma Meds Likely Safe During Pregnancy: Study

Posted 20 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Jan. 20 – A new study found no statistically significant link between asthma medication use during pregnancy and common birth defects. However, the study did find a positive association between some rare birth defects and mothers with asthma, and potentially with their medication use. But, the researchers couldn't tease out whether the problem was a loss of oxygen from less than well-controlled asthma or an effect of medications. "Worsening asthma is a risk to the mom and the fetus. Hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) we know is a problem for a developing fetus. And, the potential risk they found here is very small. Even if it turns out to be a true increase, the risk is so small. This study raises more questions than it answers," said Dr. Natalie Meirowitz, chief of the division of maternal fetal medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. What's most ... Read more

Study Offers Clues to Why Some Don't Benefit From Asthma Drugs

Posted 6 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Jan. 6 – Almost half of patients with mild or moderate asthma may have a different type of disease than those with more severe symptoms, perhaps explaining why common treatments don't work well for them, new research suggests. "We are beginning to understand that different 'flavors' of asthma probably have different molecular mechanisms," said Dr. John Fahy, director of the Airway Clinical Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. He is the senior author of the new study, published online Friday in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Asthma is a chronic disease involving inflamed airways. As the airways become more swollen, the muscles around them can tighten when something triggers symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Current anti-inflammatory treatments target a condition called eosinophilic airway ... Read more

Climate Change May Trigger More Asthma Emergencies

Posted 3 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Sept. 2 – Climate change may increase children's asthma-related visits to hospital emergency departments in the next decade. The prediction was made by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers using regional and atmospheric models. They linked N.Y. State Department of Health climate and air quality information with data on asthma-related emergency department visits by children in 14 counties that are part of the New York City metropolitan area. The team then simulated ozone levels for June through August in five consecutive years in the 2020s and compared them with ozone levels in the 1990s. The model showed an overall 7.3 percent increase in asthma-related emergency department visits by children up to age 17, with increases in individual counties ranging from 5.2 to 10.2 percent. The study is published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Acute

Don't Delay Emergency Care When Asthma Flare-Ups Strike

Posted 16 May 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, May 16 – Asthma patients who delay seeking emergency medical care when the condition flares can suffer worse outcomes, including hospitalization. That's the finding of a study that included 296 asthma patients in two New York City emergency departments. They were asked about the duration of their asthma symptoms and their attempts at self-management before they decided to go to the emergency department. Two-thirds of the patients waited five days or less before they sought medical treatment and one-third waited longer than five days. Patients who waited longer were more likely to be sicker when they arrived at the emergency department, more likely to arrive by ambulance, and more likely to be admitted to the hospital. The study also found that patients who waited longer and those who sought treatment earlier were about equally likely to have health insurance (80 percent), to ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Acute

Bitter Taste Receptors Found in Lungs May Aid Asthma Patients

Posted 25 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, Oct. 24 – Bitter taste receptors are located in the lungs as well as on the tongue, a finding that might lead to improved treatments for asthma and other obstructive lung diseases, according to researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. "The detection of functioning taste receptors on smooth muscle of the bronchus in the lungs was so unexpected that we were at first quite skeptical ourselves," said the study's senior author, Dr. Stephen B. Liggett, professor of medicine and physiology and director of the university's cardiopulmonary genomics program, in a university news release. The receptors in the lungs – which the team found by accident in an unrelated study – are the same as those on the tongue. But the tongue's receptors are clustered in taste buds that send signals to the brain, while the receptors in the lungs are not grouped in buds ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Maintenance, Asthma -- Acute, Allergic Asthma

'Electronic Nose' Sniffs Out Asthma

Posted 7 Apr 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 7 – Using an artificial breath-sensor system dubbed the "electronic nose," Italian researchers were able to spot more cases of asthma than with traditional diagnostic tools. The electronic nose detected nearly 90 percent of people with asthma compared to about 70 percent who were accurately diagnosed in the traditional way with lung function tests, according to new research published in the April issue of the journal Chest. When combined with another test, called the fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) test, the electronic nose did an even better job at detecting asthma, the study found. "The electronic nose discriminates between patients with asthma and healthy subjects and its performance is increased when combined with FENO," wrote the Italian team led by Dr. Paolo Montuschi of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. The device works by identifying ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Maintenance, Asthma -- Acute

'The Pill' May Reduce Asthma Symptoms

Posted 1 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Nov. 13 – Women with asthma may notice that their asthma symptoms get worse at certain times of the month. Now, a new study confirms that fluctuating female hormone levels appear to affect airway inflammation, but oral contraceptives might help ease those changes. In women who were not using birth control pills, the study found that increased levels of estrogen were associated with decreased levels of exhaled nitric oxide – indicating decreased airway inflammation. In these same women, increased levels of progesterone were associated with increased levels of exhaled nitric oxide, indicating increased airway inflammation. However, birth control pills lessen dramatic hormone fluctuations, and researchers didn't find differences in asthma symptoms throughout the month for women who took them. "This study is a first step in looking at the relationship between hormones and asthma," ... Read more

Health Tip: Controlling Asthma

Posted 2 Jul 2009 by Drugs.com

-- Medication used to control asthma may be used every day, without the fear of becoming addicted, the American Academy of Family Physicians says. So-called controller medications help prevent inflammation, so users feel better and breathe easier. The academy says the following people may be candidates for a daily controller medication: People who have chest tightness, wheezing or bouts of coughing more than once per week. People whose asthma wakes them up or keeps them up at night. People who have frequent asthma attacks. People who need a quick-relief medication daily to stop asthma attacks. Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Maintenance, Asthma -- Acute

Many Adults With Asthma Are Skipping Flu Shots

Posted 26 Jun 2009 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, June 26 – Adults with asthma face a higher risk of complications if they catch the flu, yet many skip their annual shots, new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. The lack of vaccinations among those with asthma mirrors inadequate vaccination rates in the general population, said study co-author Dr. Gary Euler, an epidemiologist with the National Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. The report appears in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Those with asthma did get vaccinated at a higher rate than those who did not have the respiratory condition, but still fell short, the study shows. It's not known whether swine flu will surge in the coming flu season, complicating the issue even more, Euler noted. "I think we don't know the full extent of what the swine flu is going to be like," he said. ... Read more

Related support groups: Asthma, Asthma -- Maintenance, Asthma -- Acute, Allergic Asthma

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