Asthma News

Exposure to high plasma folate levels in utero increases the risk for asthma, show researchers who found that children born to mothers with high plasma folate levels during pregnancy had an increased risk for asthma. (Source: MedWire News - Ob/Gyn)

Background:
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that is characterized by a Th2-type of immune response with increasing evidence for involvement of Th17 cells. The role of IL-6 in promoting effector T cell subsets suggest that IL-6 may play a functional role in asthma. Classically IL-6 has been viewed as an inflammatory marker, along with TNFalpha and IL-1beta, rather than as regulatory cytokine.ObjectiveTo investigate the potential relationship between IL-6 and other proinflammatory cytokines, Th2/Th17 cytokines and lung function in allergic asthma, and thus evaluate the potential role of IL-6 in this disease.
Methods:
Cytokine levels in induced sputum and lung function were measured in 16 healthy control and 18 mild-moderate allergic asthmatic subjects.
Results:
The lev…

Non-eosinophilic and eosinophilic asthma are associated with different gene expression profiles, research shows. (Source: MedWire News - Respiratory)

Pediatric Home Service has been named a Quality Respiratory Care Provider by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). PHS received the recognition under a new AARC national recognition program aimed at making sure residents cared for by homecare organizations have access to respiratory care services provided by qualified respiratory therapists. (PRWeb Mar 8, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/Pediatric_Home_Service/Quality_Respiratory_Care/prweb3698444.htm

Authors: Clare M Lloyd & Sejal Saglani
Thinking about how asthma and allergic diseases arise is undergoing several shifts. In ‘Bedside to Bench’, Clare M. Lloyd and Sejal Saglani examine how recent human studies are putting the focus on the epithelium as a major contributor to asthma. The findings shift the emphasis away from the T helper type 2 immune response, and call into question the utility of current animal models of the disease. Although asthma and other allergic disorders are known to have origins in infancy, some researchers are looking even earlier, to effects in utero and before conception. In ‘Bench to Bedside’, Catherine Hawrylowicz and Kimuli Ryanna highlight animal studies that outline some of the effects of the maternal environment, and they examine the potential impli…

Authors: Catherine Hawrylowicz & Kimuli Ryanna (Source: Nature Medicine)

Other stories we’ve been reading:
Read one father’s story on how he became an advocate for safer teen driving. Check out these safe driving tips for your teen. [Read about the dangers of drowsy driving.]
Advertising guilt doesn’t curb binge drinking. Teen alcohol and marijuana use is on the rise. [A recent teen drug survey predicted this.] Young people who smoke marijuana for long periods of time are more likely to risk psychosis.
Despite studies proving otherwise, some parents still believe that vaccines cause autism. Gene therapy is closer to restoring eyesight to blind patients. [Read about how a novel surgery saves one baby’s vision.] A blood test can help sort out milk allergies. [Watch Brett go through a milk exposure desensitization trial.]
Screening athletes could prevent s…

InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted briefing documents for the March 9 Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee (PADAC) meeting to review the New Drug Application (NDA) for pirfenidone, InterMune’s investigational drug candidate for the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to reduce decline in lung function. The proposed trade name for pirfenidone is Esbriet®… (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) announced that the U.S… (Source: Pharma Industry News From Medical News Today)

NEW ORLEANS (MedPage Today) — Asthma patients who will be unlikely to gain control of symptoms with inhaled corticosteroids might be identified with a blood test, a researcher suggested here. (Source: MedPage Today Allergy)