Adjusting the inhaled glucocorticoid dose based on indices of airway inflammation has been proposed as a means of achieving more effective control of asthma than the conventional approach of adjusting steroid dose based on symptoms, lung function and rescue medication use. In a single-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 97 asthmatic patients received fluticasone doses adjusted on the basis either of conventional guidelines or of exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FE NO ). (more…)
For most patients, asthma is not controlled as defined by guidelines; whether this is achievable has not been prospectively stu ...
The new corticosteroid ciclesonide has been evaluated in various studies to assess its efficacy and adverse effect profile in a ...
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...
The management of asthma in the community involves patient education to avoid the triggers, doubling the dose of inhaled steroi ...
Treating allergic rhinitis may have a downstream effect on concomitant asthma and this may be due to attenuation of the underlying ...

Exacerbations of asthma are frequently associated with rhinoviral infection. Rhinoviruses infect respiratory epithelial cells, where they replicate. The presence of viral nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and the production of new virions provoke an innate immune system response, leading to destruction of infected cells through the rapid induction of apoptosis. The lower airways of asthmatic individuals are more susceptible than those of healthy individuals to infection with rhinoviruses, although the basis of this difference has not been understood previously. Using epithelial cells cultured from bronchial brush biopsies of healthy and asthmatic volunteers, rhinovirus 16 (RV16) was found to replicate more rapidly in asthmatic epithelial cells in vitro. (more…)
Eosinophil infiltration of the mucosa is a feature of asthmatic airways. Their adhesion to bronchial epithelial cells has been ...
Local micro environmental factors are crucial in determining both susceptibility to vascular remodeling and the extent of angio ...
Contact of pathogens with the innate immune system will most frequently occur at epithelia, and the biology of the airway epitheliu ...
Measles virus is a highly infectious viral disease characterized by a sore throat and a blotchy red rash that starts on the fac ...
While our primary concern is the impact that the innate immune system has on allergic disease, it is essential to recognize that al ...
Natural history studies with the following design features provide a firm epidemiologic foundation for risk factor assessments and etiologic hypotheses:
(1) long-term cohort studies of a prospective design minimize biases resulting from poor parental recall;
(2) multiple evaluations over time provide important checkpoints during the dynamic period of childhood growth and development; and
(3) the inclusion of objective disease measurements strengthens these studies by validating subjective disease assessments (i.e. questionnaire data). (more…)
Atopic Dermatitis is considered to be one of the first manifestations in the atopic march. The aim of this study was to investi ...
In the Tucson CRS study, about 50% of young children experienced a period of recurrent wheezing and/or coughing in the first 6 ...
There is much controversy as to the role of allergen exposure for the development of atopic sensitization towards this allergen. Wh ...
Sensitization to pets remains a risk factor for asthma and rhinitis, and can occur in people who have never lived with a pet. S ...
Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its deve ...

The effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on children have been extensively studied and numerous surveys have consistently reported an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and respiratory diseases or respiratory allergies. Strong evidence exists that passive smoking increases the risk of lower respiratory tract illnesses such as bronchitis, wheezy bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children. (more…)
This study sought to determine the influence of passive exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood on the results of genetic linkag ...
Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its deve ...
Children in the early of their life is prone to allergy because their body immune system is not developed completely. As a matter o ...
CD14 is part of the receptor complex for endotoxin, which is a component of tobacco smoke. The CD14 gene is located on chromoso ...
Asthma is a complex syndrome rather than a single disease entity. Different phenotypes with varying prognosis and determinants have ...
There is much controversy as to the role of allergen exposure for the development of atopic sensitization towards this allergen. While in some studies, a clear, almost linear dose-response relation between allergen exposure and sensitization has been found, others described a bell-shaped association with higher levels of exposures relating to lower rates of atopic sensitization. Part of the discrepancy may relate to the type of allergen, since mostly cat but not house dust mite allergy allergen exposure has been shown, in some studies, to exert protective effects at higher levels of exposure. (more…)
Natural history studies with the following design features provide a firm epidemiologic foundation for risk factor assessments and ...
The effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on children have been extensively studied and numerous surveys hav ...
Two factors thought to influence the risk factor asthma are the promoting effect of sensitization to house dust mites and the preve ...
Allergen exposure plays a role in the development of asthma bronchial hyper-responsiveness and in the acute inflammatory response ...
Sensitization to pets remains a risk factor for asthma and rhinitis, and can occur in people who have never lived with a pet. S ...

It is clear from the results of large epidemiologic studies that while atopy is a major risk factor for asthma, it is usually not sufficient by itself to drive the disease process to chronicity, as less than 25% of atopics develop persistent asthma. The situation in childhood is further complicated by an additional series of development factors, related to postnatal maturation of respiratory function. (more…)
In the Tucson CRS study, about 50% of young children experienced a period of recurrent wheezing and/or coughing in the first 6 ...
Natural history studies with the following design features provide a firm epidemiologic foundation for risk factor assessments and ...
Atopic Dermatitis is considered to be one of the first manifestations in the atopic march. The aim of this study was to investi ...
Asthma is a complex syndrome rather than a single disease entity. Different phenotypes with varying prognosis and determinants have ...
More severe asthma can persist from childhood into adulthood without remission. Another important tendency in the natural histo ...