Asthma UK Research Gives Hope To Young Children With Asthma
The research will be undertaken at the Institute of Child Heath at Great Ormond Street Hospital and aims to investigate the links between the cellular processes in the lungs of young children with asthma, the symptoms they experience and the changes in the airway function as they grow older. It will also look to address why some very young children with asthma appear to outgrow the condition, whilst others don't.
Currently asthma is the most common long-term condition in childhood with one in ten children in the UK developing asthma, that's three children in every classroom. Nearly a quarter of children with asthma miss six or more days of school a year as a result of their condition and one in six parents say their child's asthma stops them from doing exercise or sport at school, which highlights the importance of research in this area.
Until recently it was extremely difficult to measure lung function in very young children but developments at the Institute of Child Heath at Great Ormond Street Hospital have demonstrated this is now possible. A team there has developed a more sensitive and non-invasive method called the multiple-breath washout (MBW) which is a sensitive, reliable method for measuring the function of the very small airways in the outermost parts of the lung. Damage to the smallest airways is extremely difficult to detect so using the test will be key to the success of the project.
Telescope examinations and biopsies were previously performed at the Royal Brompton hospital on a group of young children with severe wheeze, aged between three months and five years old, and damage to their airways was recorded. These children, now aged between four and six years old, will have their lungs investigated in detail, using MBW and other lung function tests, and by measuring markers of inflammation in the children's breath. The team will also perform the same tests on 32 children with mild wheeze and on a population of healthy children.
Dr Paul Aurora comments 'This is an exciting and unique opportunity to study how asthma develops in young children. We have a very unusual group of children who have previously had biopsies for severe wheeze, and now we will be investigating how well their airways function using sophisticated and sensitive lung function tests. We hope that the information we obtain about the development of childhood asthma will allow us to target future treatments more accurately.'
Dr Victoria King, Research Development Manager at Asthma UK comments: 'Asthma UK is pleased to be funding and supporting this research to determine the change in airways as children grow older and how this effects their asthma symptoms. It is essential to understand how the lungs function in very young children so we can target treatments more effectively. We will continue to monitor this research with interest.'
1. Asthma UK is the major funder of asthma research in the UK. Each year we spend approximately £3 million on research which includes project grants, four fellows, and two professors.
2. Asthma UK is the charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the 5.2 million people in the UK whose lives are affected by asthma. For up-to-date news on asthma, information and publications, visit the Asthma UK website http://www.asthma.org.uk.
Astm Marea Britanie dã speranþa de cercetare pentru tinerii copiii cu astm bronºic - Asthma UK Research Gives Hope To Young Children With Asthma - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate