Gene Variations, Secondhand Smoke Linked to Early Asthma

health.msn.com — Certain genetic variations previously identified as putting people at higher risk for asthma apparently only increase the risk of so-called early-onset asthma, which is disease that appears at 4 years of age or younger. The risk is further increased by exposure to secondhand smoke, again early in life, according to a study in the Oct. 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "This helps support the theory that asthma is not a uniform disease. It's probably several problems that end up with the same type of symptoms," said Dr. Thomas Leath, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "It also supports the fact that it's not just genes that cause asthma, and it's not just the environment, but the interaction between the two." read more...

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Exercise Could Induce Asthma

healthnews.com — Some people only seem to get asthma attacks when they run or do other types of exercise. This type of "exercise-induced asthma" is particularly a problem with young people. In fact, some physicians are puzzled over why the children have exercise-induced-asthma and why adults typically do not. Eventually the result of the research showed that adults just don’t get enough exercise to have these kinds of attacks. Now, the thought is that the people who get the asthma attacks only when they exercise just have a type of asthma that is too mild to show up a lot of them time, needing the extra provocation from breathing faster to bring it out. read more...

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Farm pregnancy 'cuts asthma risk'

news.bbc.co.uk — Living on a farm during pregnancy may help reduce the chance of the child developing asthma, eczema and even hayfever, say scientists. The New Zealand researchers suggest that exposure to animals and the bacteria they carry may affect the foetus's immune system. Writing in the European Respiratory Journal, they said exposure before and after birth halved the risk. read more...

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Worldwide allergy, asthma rates rising, report says

ctv.ca — Allergy cases have risen dramatically around the world over the last 40 years and health-care organizations need to direct more resources to curb this growing health problem, an international allergy organization said Wednesday. In its first ever report on worldwide rates of allergy and other chronic respiratory diseases, the World Allergy Organization (WAO) said that as allergy and asthma rates are on the rise, the number of health-care professionals who can diagnose and treat these illnesses has remained stagnant. According to the report, worldwide asthma rates have increased 50 per cent each decade for the last 40 years. And the report said that as many as "20 per cent to 25 per cent of the population of every developed nation will develop some sort of allergic disease read more...

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Antibody drug cost-effective for allergic asthma

news.yahoo.com — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The antibody drug omalizumab (Xolair) is cost-effective for treating allergic asthma that has not responded fully to steroid inhalers and other mediations, according to a report in the journal Allergy. Omalizumab is the first licensed antibody drug shown to be effective for treating allergic asthma, the authors explain, and recent guidelines recommend its addition to steroid inhalers and other drugs for certain patients. Sean D. Sullivan from University of Washington, Seattle, and Dr. F. Turk from Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland reviewed published evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of omalizumab in patients with persistent allergic asthma. In seven studies of patients with predominantly severe persistent allergic asthma, the authors report, omalizumab was effective over a wide range of outcome measures, including asthma exacerbation rates and total emergency visit rates. The findings suggest that in such patients omalizumab reduces asthma symptoms, flare-ups, and emergency room visits. Moreover, the cost analysis suggested that use of omalizumab in patients with asthma not responding to other drugs was money well spent compared with other treatment interventions. The researchers caution, however, that there is some evidence that the drug is not cost effective when used in other patients with asthma. Sullivan told Reuters Health that recommendations by the Global Initiative for Asthma should help doctors decide which patients are best suited for omalizumab therapy. read more...

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Most Asthmatics Aren't Getting Flu Shot

news.yahoo.com — RIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Only 36.2 percent of Americans with asthma received a flu shot during the 2005-06 flu season, even though people with asthma are at higher risk for complications from the flu, a federal government study finds. That level of inoculation is well below the government's Healthy People 2010 target of 60 percent vaccination coverage for people ages 18 to 64 with high-risk conditions. The analysis of 2006 National Health Interview Survey data found that those with health insurance, a usual place for health care, and a higher family income achieved the highest rates of vaccination. But even among those with the greatest number of health care visits, the rate of vaccination was only 50 percent. The low rate of flu vaccination among people with asthma may be due to inadequate access to health care and missed opportunities at doctors' visits, the study authors said. Along with making improvement in these areas, they recommended a number of other ways to improve vaccination coverage in this at-risk group, including educating health care providers; encouraging patients to establish a usual place for health care; and continuing to vaccinate throughout the flu season. The study was published in the June 20 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1964, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended influenza vaccinations for all people with asthma. read more...

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FDA: Asthma Inhalers Going Green

time.com — (WASHINGTON) — Old-fashioned asthma inhalers that contain environment-harming chemicals will quit selling at year's end — and the government is urging patients not to wait until the last minute to switch to newer alternatives. Patients use inhalers that dispense airway-relaxing albuterol during asthma attacks. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, once were widely used to propel the drug into the lungs. But CFC-containing consumer products are being phased out because CFCs damage the Earth's protective ozone layer. As of Dec. 31, CFC-containing asthma inhalers can no longer be made or sold in the U.S. — and inhalers are being powered instead by ozone-friendly HFAs, or hydrofluoroalkanes. read more...

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