11 September, 2015

A step closer to treating severe asthma

A major European study has helped identify key characteristics of severe asthma which will help with the development of new treatment for patients with the condition.

The study involved four groups of adult participants in 11 countries and followed them up for over a year.

The groups constituted 311 non-smokers with severe asthma, 110 smokers and ex-smokers with severe asthma, 88 patients with milder asthma and 101 healthy volunteers.

The results found that patients with severe asthma had more symptoms and exacerbations compared to patients with mild-moderate disease.

Severe asthma patients also reported worse quality of life and higher levels of anxiety and depression as well as more nasal polyps (small growths in the nose), acid indigestion and poorer lung function.

A key finding is that although patients with severe asthma take greater amounts of anti-inflammatory treatment, including inhaled and oral steroids, they still had higher levels of inflammation in their airways.

This study is the first to describe severe asthma across such a large cohort.

"Once we can break this condition down into different groups, patients can be swiftly and accurately diagnosed and individually treated by targeting the mechanisms that are driving their own disease," explained lead author Dominick Shaw from University of Nottingham.

"Once we can identify these new treatments, we can lessen the burden of this chronic and debilitating disease," he added.

The new paper, published in the European Respiratory Journal, is one of the largest assessments of adults with severe asthma to date, looking at several characteristics including symptoms, patients' quality of life and blood and airway measurements.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.09.2015

Diabetes drug may boost fracture risk

Some diabetes drugs can substantially increase the amount of fat inside our bones and thus the risk of bone fractures, warns a new study.

The study also showed that exercise can decrease the volume of bone fat caused by high doses of the diabetes drug rosiglitazone, which is sold under the brand name Avandia.

"We think doctors and patients need to better understand the relationship between diabetes, certain drugs, and the often dramatic effect on bone health," said study first author Maya Styner, assistant professor at University of North Carolina School of Medicine in the US.

Essentially, rosiglitazone takes glucose out of blood to lower blood sugar and treat diabetes.

But that glucose is then packaged into lipid droplets - fat.

Other researchers showed that some of that fat is stored in tissue, such as belly fat.

The latest research conducted in mice showed that the drug also causes fat to be stored inside bone.

"We were surprised by the massive amount of bone fat caused by rosiglitazone," Styner said.

To see the effect of exercise, the study team added a running wheel to mouse cages. Mice are natural runners and at night, they would run several miles on the wheel.

Even on a high dose of a power drug, such as rosiglitazone, the mice that exercised showed a significant decrease in bone fat.

Styner said exercise might trigger marrow stem cells to create more bone cells instead of fat cells. Or perhaps exercise causes the body to access bone fat as fuel.

"It could be that bone fat is just another depot, a good energy store that allows bone cells to do what they need to do so bones become stronger," Styner said.

The study was published in the journal Endocrinology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.09.2015

Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It's the best part of the day

 George Allen