Holistic Treatment Options For America's First "Environmental Epidemic" -- Respiratory Disease

"While conventional medicine can often effectively treat the symptoms, most chronic respiratory sufferers are told that they simply must learn to 'live with it,'" says Dr. Hardy. "However, extending conventional medical therapies to include integrative approaches can be highly beneficial to many sufferers," she adds.

Inhaled Steroids Prove Safe And More Effective For Treating Mild Asthma Than Non-Steroidal Therapies

"This study shows that the best asthma drug can be given to children without having to worry about any long-term adverse effects on growth and development," says N. Franklin Adkinson Jr., M.D., a professor of allergy and clinical immunology and director of CAMP at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Earlier studies have shown that moderate doses of inhaled steroids stunt the growth of children by 1 centimeter per year. Some patients may be on the medications for 10 years or more, and so this could have meant that these children would be 4 inches shorter than their non-asthmatic classmates. The CAMP study clearly shows that the effect on growth suppression is transient and growth velocity returns to normal after about a year. A second study from Denmark in the same issue of the journal confirms this finding."

Attachment Helps Young Children Inhale Asthma Medications, UF Researcher Says

Although the electronic nebulizer has long been favored by practitioners, University of Florida clinical pharmacist Leslie Hendeles, wants parents and physicians to know they have another option; a device that cheaply and effectively delivers asthma medicine in a fraction of the time, without the need for electricity and with fewer side effects.

Marathon Runners, Swimmers, And Cross-Country Skiers Beware: Intensive Exercise Is Bad For Your Lungs

A broad-ranging survey conducted in Norway among 1600 top athletes by the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education showed recently just how widespread the damage has been. No less than one athlete in ten -- regardless of the type of sport -- suffers from asthma or wheeze.

More Than 300 Regularly Prescribed Medicines Can Damage The Lungs

This was revealed at a postgraduate course on iatrogenic lung diseases given by Professor Philippe Camus of the University Medical Centre of Dijon, who is also a member of the Clinical Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), organizer of the Congress.

Hopkins Research May Bring "Sigh" Of Relief To Asthmatics

"Understanding the protective effects of sighing may give us therapeutic options for asthmatics in the future," says Alkis Togias, M.D., an associate professor of clinical immunology and principal investigator of the study, which appears in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Molecular Structure Key To Allergies And Asthma Is Identified

The discovery of how the antibody binds to the mast cell receptor could lead to the development of a new class of drugs that attack allergies at their source, preventing the cascade of released chemicals that leads to the itching, sneezing and congestion of allergies, the life-threatening respiratory distress of asthma and anaphylactic shock. Todayís commercial drugs only treat symptoms once the allergic response is already under way.

Phoning The Pharmacist: UF Researchers Find A Simple Way To Learn Whether Patients Are Taking Their Medicine

It's a low-tech solution for an age-old conundrum. Millions of Americans have chronic health problems that require daily treatment, but many fail to take their prescribed medications consistently, resulting in unnecessary - and sometimes life-threatening - complications. What's more, their physicians may end up prescribing more potent or even experimental drugs in the mistaken belief that the original treatment had been ineffective.

Children With Asthma Need An "Action Plan" Before Camp, Other Activities Begin This Summer, National Jewish Nurse Explains

Children who experience asthma symptoms require “pretreatment” (the use of a prescribed, inhaled medication) before any strenuous activities. “There are many professional and Olympic athletes who have asthma,” says Epi Mazzei, R.N., manager of LUNG LINE ® at National Jewish Medical and Research Center. “With treatment, they are extremely competitive and have even won gold medals. They haven’t let asthma stop them.”

Acrid Smoke From Raging Wildfires Hazardous To Those With Lung, Heart Diseases, National Jewish Physician Says

“People closest to the fires are most at risk. That’s why individuals living and working in Los Alamos and local Colorado communities near Bailey were evacuated,” explains Lisa Maier, M.D., a physician in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

Certain Genetic Mutations Affect Human Response To Environmental Contaminant

The UI investigators determined that mutations in the toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) gene can cause some people to be less responsive to inhaled endotoxin and less prone to develop an asthma-like response when exposed to this common environmental contaminant. The findings were published in the June issue of Nature Genetics.

First National Survey Shows Americans' Bedding Can Make Them Sick; Allergens The Culprit

Called The First National Allergen Survey, the study was led by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, and done in collaboration with investigators at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Harvard University, and Westat, Inc. Early results of the study will be presented at the 96th International Conference of the American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society and their Canadian counterparts, Wednesday, May 10, at the Toronto Convention Center (Area D, Exhibit Hall, South Building, Level 800). Authors will be available to discuss the study between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.