Asthma Research Breaks the Mold

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Asthma Research Breaks the Mold

by admin on December 14, 2010

http://worldasthmafoundation.org/asthma-research-breaks-the-mold.htm

Study finds cause of allergic reaction could be growing in your lungs

Scientists investigating the allergic reactions that asthmatics suffer towards a

common mold/mould have discovered that many people with asthma actually had the

mold/mould growing in their own lungs.

The research led by University of Leicester scientists at Glenfield Hospital has

been published in the December 2010 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory

and Critical Care Medicine.

The team based in the Institute for Lung Health at the University of Leicester

and Glenfield Hospital examined the impact on asthmatics of a common

environmental mold/mould, Aspergillus fumigates, usually found in soil and

compost heaps.

Professor Andy Wardlaw from the University of Leicester said: " Asthma is a very

common condition where the breathing tubes (bronchi) can go into spasm making it

difficult to breathe. Around a fifth of adults with severe asthma, which they

have had for a long time, get permanent (fixed) narrowing of their bronchi. It

is known that A. fumigatus can grow in the lungs of some people with asthma and

mold/mould allergy, which can cause severe lung damage.

" This problem is thought to only affect a very small number of people with

asthma; however, about half of people with severe asthma have evidence of

allergy to moulds like A. fumigatus. "

Researchers in the Institute for Lung Health at the University of Leicester and

Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, carried out a study funded by the Midlands Asthma

and Allergy Research Association (MAARA, a Midlands based charity funding

research into asthma and allergy research. www.maara.org) and the European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF), to determine whether the problem of A.

fumigatus growing in the lungs is more common than previously thought, and

whether this could explain the fixed narrowing of the airways that occurs in

some people with asthma.

Professor Wardlaw added: " Our study showed that 6 out of 10 people with asthma

who were allergic to A. fumigatus grew the mould from their sputum. We also

found that if you were allergic to A. fumigatus you had more narrowing of the

airways than if you were not allergic, and this was worse in patients from whom

A. fumigatus was grown.

" Our research concluded that it is possible that fixed narrowing of breathing

tubes in many people with asthma could be caused by A. fumigatus growing in

their lungs.

" Treating individuals from whom A. fumigatus is detected with antibiotics

against the mould may prevent fixed narrowing of the airways. "

Contact: Professor Andy Wardlaw

01-162-563-841

University of Leicester