Asthma

​There may be new hope for people who suffer from asthma or other respiratory disorders. Scientists from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Shanghai University have developed a drug that they claim is a more effective treatment than the currently-used bronchodilator inhalers.

Scientists understand that too much of a protein called mucin causes the lungs’ airways to close, triggering an asthma attack. Until now, the mechanism behind it was unknown. Researchers from Houston Methodist Research Institute believe the answer lies in how two molecules communicate.

Researchers have revealed the mechanism behind an antibody that can potentially inactivate the body's allergic processes.​ The breakthrough brings researchers one step closer to developing a universal treatment that can prevent the fundamental immune response at the heart of all allergic reactions.

North Carolina-based Pneuma Respiratory has developed what it states is the world's first fully-digital soft mist inhaler. Among other things, it's claimed to deliver medication more reliably.​

An international team, made up of scientists from several different universities, has successfully identified over 100 genetic risk factors that increase a person’s chances of developing three common allergic conditions: asthma, hay fever and eczema.

A team of researchers at the University of Queensland has developed a new process that has successfully silenced a severe allergic response in mice, using blood stem cells engineered with a gene that can target specific immune cells.

​Asthma can be a debilitating, dangerous condition, and it's most often caused by allergies. While medication provides some relief, scientists have devised a treatment that could help the severely-asthmatic even more. It involves using a dialysis-like setup to filter antibodies out of their blood.

Hyper-responsiveness might be something you'd like from your cell phone company. But in the lungs, hyper-responsiveness is a major hallmark of asthma. Researchers believe they may have found a protein that can combat this extreme reaction of the lungs, which could one day wind up in an inhaler.

As it stands, asthma is far from the easiest health condition to diagnose. But scientists have now come up with a new approach that could make things a whole lot easier, analyzing a single sample of a patient's saliva to pick out tell-tale signs of the disease.

Scientists are developing a wearable early warning system for asthmatics. Consisting mainly of a wristband and chest patch, the technology monitors patients' bodies and their environment, sending an alert when an attack may be imminent.​

Asthma is a widespread condition, but there's no definitive test for diagnosing it. New research could change that, with scientists identifying molecules that circulate in the blood, signalling that they have the disease.

Researchers have 3D printed a spirometer that is not only highly mobile, but is claimed to be twice as sensitive as other available devices with the ability to detect variations in airflow from a single sneeze.