Asthma and Stress: How are They Related?

asthma stress
Negative family characteristics such as family conflict and family dysfunction discriminated children who died of asthma from children with equally severe asthma who did not die. Parenting difficulties have been associated with a higher risk for the development of asthma early in life. In addition, children with the highest risk of developing early-onset asthma were those in families with both parenting problems and high stress. Evidence for a asthma and stress link has been demonstrated through temporal studies, as experiencing an acute negative life event increased children’s risk for an asthma attack 4 to 6 weeks after the occurrence of the event. (more…)

Inflammation Mediators and Vascular Responses to Injury or Infection

inflmmation responses
Some of the immediate sequelae of injury are uncomfortably familiar: Soon after an injury occurs, the affected site and its surrounding tissues become reddened, warm, swollen, and painful. These four signs which are probably the most useful and ubiquitous diagnostic clues in all of clinical medicine are hallmarks of acute inflammation, the body’s initial physiologic reaction to tissue distress. In its simplest form, inflammation is a response carried out by blood vessels and by the endothelial cells that line them. (more…)

Roflumilast Phosphodiesterase 4 Inhibitor, Attenuates Allergen-Induced Asthmatic Reactions

Roflumilast Phosphodiesterase
Roflumilast is an oral, once-daily inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) that prevents the breakdown of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, leading to inhibition of pro-inflammatory signalling. This study investigated the effects of repeated doses of 250 or 500 µg of roflumilast on airway asthma responses to allergen. (more…)

Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha in Symptomatic Corticosteroid-Dependent Asthma

Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha
Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) is a major therapeutic target in a range of chronic inflammatory disorders involving neutrophils and its excess production is characterized by a Th1-type immune response. Asthma is regarded as a Th2-type disorder when associated with atopy, (more…)

Mite Allergen-Impermeable Bed-Covering System Effectiveness In Asthmatic Mite-Sensitive Patients

Allergen exposure plays a role in the development of asthma bronchial hyper-responsiveness and in the acute inflammatory response seen in asthmatic patients. Reduction of house dust mite allergens might lead to better lung function and reduction of asthma symptoms. (more…)

Acute Phase Proteins Definition & Disparate Plasma Proteins

Acute phase proteins are plasma proteins, the synthesis and the circulating concentrations of which are adaptively regulated in response to most forms of acute inflammation, infection and tissue injury. The name arises from the fact that the first such protein, C-reactive protein (CRP), was originally discovered in serum sickness of patients in the acute phase of pneumococcal pneumonia. (more…)

Antigen-Specific Cd4 T Cells Drive Airways Smooth Muscle Remodeling In Experimental Asthma

Cd4 T Cells
Airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma may involve smooth muscle growth, a manifestation of airway remodelling. The involvement of inflammatory cells in the induction of airway smooth muscle growth was studied in vivo and ex vivo in a brown Norway rat model of asthma. Transfer of CD4 + T lymphocytes from ovalbuminsensitized animals induced an increase in airway smooth muscle mass in naive animals upon repeated ovalbumin challenge. Ex vivo, coculture of antigen-stimulated CD4 + T cells and airway smooth muscle cells led to myocyte proliferation and prolonged T-cell survival. (more…)

Atopic Dermatitis in Children: Triggers and Treatment

atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the skin which usually starts in infancy. It is sometimes called ‘atopic eczema’ or even simply ‘eczema’. Recently, the term ‘atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome’ or eczema symptoms or infantile eczema has also been proposed to indicate the varied nature of this disease. The diagnosis is based on clinical features of a chronic itchy dermatitis with typical morphology and distribution and a relapsing and remitting course. (more…)

Symptoms of Asthma: Inflammation Airways and Chest Tightness

Symptoms of Asthma Inflammation
The symptoms of asthma occur together with variations in the diameter of medium- size airways such that it is increasingly difficult to exhale. Narrowing of the airways can occur because of smooth muscle contraction, edema or swelling of the wall, or increased mucus in the airways. However, it is increasingly clear that the pathologic event underlying most cases of asthma is acute inflammation of the airway walls. (more…)

Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist and Antihistamines for Asthma Treatments

Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist
Antihistamines have been shown to be effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria. They improve quality of life scores, acute inflammatory response markers in atopic dermatitis asthma and symptom scores. Newer histamine H1-receptor antagonists may also have an antiplatelet-activating factor effect and are equally effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis. The antileukotrienes were developed in the 1980s. The first compounds of this novel class of anti-asthma drugs were registered in the second half of the 1990s. The mechanism of action of the cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) is based on counteracting the effects of cysteinyl leukotrienes at their receptor site (CysLT1 receptor) within the airways. (more…)

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