Lipoxin A4 Discovered To Serve Dual Purpose In Treatment and Management of Asthma

Scientists from from Brigham and Women's Hospital have discovered a molecule that plays a dual role in the treatment and management of asthma.

Asthma is a breathing disorder wherein air passages start to swell and narrow which restricts the airflow to and from the lungs of the patient. The air passages, called bronchioles, start to swell up and tighten resulting in shortness of breath, coughing, tightening of the chest and a wheezing sound while trying to breath.

Asthma can be triggered by chemicals in the air or food, exercise, weather, stress, medicine, and other allergens. Also it is advised that people suffering from asthma to avoid exposure to cigarette smoke and other air born particles such as pollen.

Asthma is an incurable condition and can only be managed and controlled by medication such as inhaled corticosteroids. These help keep the swelling down and reduce the effects of an asthma attack.

The purpose of asthma medication is to reduce the swelling of the bronchioles. Recently, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have discovered a molecule that can be used to effectively treat and manage asthma attacks by both cutting down on the swelling and also inhibiting further inflammation of the bronchioles.

Lipoxin A4's process of quelling airway inflammation is similar to putting out a forest fire, according to Bruce Levy, M.D., Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, BWH Department of Internal Medicine. Molecular image courtesy of Levy Lab.
Credit: Levy Lab

8% of Childhood Asthma Attributed To Traffic and Roadway Related Pollution

Asthma is a chronic and long term medical condition that causes the passageways of to the lungs to swell and narrow affecting breathing. Asthma has no cure but can be self managed.

Patients affected by asthma experience difficulty in breathing, wheezing, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and coughing. The passageways called bronchioles are inflammed which restricts the airflow into and out of the lungs. The inflammation is aggravated by mucus production and the tightening of muscles in the bronchial tree. This reduces the airflow and causes a wheezing sound from the patient as he tries to breath in enough air into the lungs.

People with asthma have oversensitive bronchioles. Certain substances called "Asthmatic triggers" irritate these airways which in turn start an asthma attack. These triggers are mostly external in nature such as chemicals, dust, mold and mildew, house dust mites, pollen, animal fur, cigarette smoke. Chest infections such as the common cold also can trigger an asthma attack. In some cases, even taking aspirin can cause an episode.

Although there is no cure for asthma, it is easily managed through the asthma medication. Inhaled steroids prevent the swelling of the airways and also quick acting bronchodilators which are also inhaled, mitigate the symptoms when an attack happens.

Avoiding places where asthma triggers are prevalent greatly helps in controlling the disease.

Near-roadway air pollution a major contributor to asthma in Los Angeles County, USC research finds

Research conducted at the University of Southern California (USC) indicates that at least 8 percent of the more than 300,000 cases of childhood asthma in Los Angeles County can be attributed to traffic-related pollution at homes within 75 meters (a little less than 250 feet) of a busy roadway.

The study also indicates that previous estimates of childhood asthma exacerbation related to air pollution may have underestimated the true burden of exposure on society. The research was published online Sept. 24, 2012, in Environmental Health Perspectives and was conducted in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and Sonoma Technology, Inc. The study focused on the Los Angeles basin.

Asthma Drug Budesonide Stunts Children's Growth

Asthma is a breathing disorder that causes air passages of the lungs, called bronchioles, to swell and narrow. During an asthma attack, the patient has difficulty breathing because the muscles surrounding the airways become tight and the lining of the air passages swells which reduces the amount of air that can pass by.

Because the bronchioles of an asthmatic patient swell up and tighten, this results in wheezing, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and coughing. Triggers that can cause asthma are varied, generally asthma can be triggered by chemicals in the air or food, exercise, weather, stress, medicine, and allergens.

Asthma has no cure. The disorder can only be managed and controlled. Inhaled corticosteroids help keep the airways from swelling which help prevent asthma symptoms. There are also long-acting beta-agonist inhalers which prevent the symptoms but these must be used together with another inhaled steroid drug.

Avoiding asthma triggers is also important in maintaining control and preventing attacks. Cigarette smoking and second hand smoke (passive smoke) in regard to people with asthma causes problems in effectiveness of management medications such as steroid/corticosteroid therapies.

Children taking steroids for asthma are slightly shorter than peers

Children who use inhaled steroid drugs for asthma end up slightly shorter at their full adult height than children who don't use the drugs, new results from a comprehensive asthma study show.

The findings will be presented Sept. 3 at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria, and published online the same day in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study's senior author is Robert C. Strunk, MD, the Donald Strominger Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The study involved more than 1,000 children ages 5-12 who were treated for mild to moderate asthma as part of the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) clinical trial. The children received treatment for more than four years at eight centers, including Washington University School of Medicine. They were divided into three groups: one received twice-daily budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid medication; a second group received nedocromil, an inhaled non-steroid medication; and a third group received a placebo. All children received albuterol, a fast-acting drug for relief of acute asthma symptoms, and oral corticosteroids as needed for asthma symptoms.

The researchers followed 943 participants in the trial at regular intervals until they reached adult height. Females were considered to be at adult height at age 18 or older and males at age 20 or older, Strunk says. In the first 4 1/2 years after the end of the trial, researchers took patients' height and weight every six months. Over the next eight years, height and weight were measured once or twice a year.

The mean adult height was about one-half inch, or 1.2 centimeters, shorter in the group that received budesonide than in the patients who received nedocromil or placebo. The patients who experienced the slower growth were primarily between 5-11 years old when they began using budesonide.

Athletes With Asthma May Be Using Wrong Medication Due To Misdiagnosis

Asthma is a breathing disorder that causes air passages of the lungs to swell and narrow. These air passages are called bronchioles. During an asthma attack, the muscles surrounding the airways become tight and the lining of the air passages swells. This reduces the amount of air that can pass by.

Bronchioles are the first airways by which air passes through the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs. With asthma, these bronchioles swell and become narrow which results in wheezing, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and coughing.

Asthma can be caused by chemicals in the air or food, exercise, weather, stress, medicine, and allergens. These are called triggers.

There is no cure for asthma but the disorder can be managed and controlled. Inhaled corticosteroids help keep the airways from swelling which help prevent asthma symptoms. There are also long-acting beta-agonist inhalers which prevent the symptoms but these must be used together with another inhaled steroid drug.

Avoiding asthma triggers is also important in maintaining control and preventing attacks. Cigarette smoking and second hand smoke (passive smoke) in regard to people with asthma causes problems in effectiveness of management medications such as steroid/corticosteroid therapies.

Many athletes with asthma may be using the wrong treatment

Many athletes with asthma may not be using the best treatment for their condition and could be putting their long term health at risk, according to a roundup by journalist Sophie Arie published by the BMJ today.

The article will feature on the BMJ's new Olympics portal, an online resource to keep doctors up to date with sports medicine content from across the BMJ Group. The portal will be open until the end of the Olympic and Para-Olympic games.

Asthma is strikingly common in elite athletes and has gradually risen at almost every Olympics since the 1970s. In 2004 almost 21% of Team GB had asthma compared with 8% of the British population.