New Study Could Change Treatment for Asthma

New Study Could Change Treatment for Asthma¹

 Global treatment guidelines for asthma could change as a result of a study led by a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Most adults who have mild or moderate asthma are told to use their inhalers twice daily, even if they don't have symptoms. The medicine in those inhalers are corticosteroids, which open a person's airways² and decrease mucus so it's easier to breathe. Inhaled³ corticosteroids are the most common and the most effective form of therapy for asthma.

With asthma, the airways of the lungs become inflamed⁴ and swollen⁵. It's triggered by a wide range of factors, some genetic⁶, some environmental. Dust, air pollution or smoke can set off an asthma attack. Change of seasons when there are a lot of particles in the air can also trigger an attack.

Frank Grizzaffi knows this routine well.

“There was a regime that I was supposed to follow, it was two puffs⁸ in the morning and two puffs in the evening,” said Grizzaffi.

That was before Grizzaffi participated in a study that involved 10 academic centers and more than 300 adults with mild to moderate asthma.

The doctors evaluated the patients and determined⁹ the lowest possible dose of medication that would control their asthma. Dr. William Calhoun led the study.

“The amount of corticosteroid that a patient received during the trial was dependent upon the amount of symptoms they had. When they had fewer symptoms they got less steroid, when they had more symptoms they got more steroid,” he said.

After adjusting medication, doctors looked at three different ways of treating the patients.

One group received their adjusted dose of steroids and took them as usual. Another group had their steroid levels adjusted after taking sophisticated breath tests for asthma and a third group was told to use inhalers only when their symptoms flared¹⁰ up.

What they found was that patients in this last group did just as well as those in the other two groups. The major difference is they only used half as much medication. 

“The symptoms-based arm resulted in a reduced use of inhaled corticosteroids, a 50 percent reduction. It also resulted in a reduction in exacerbation¹¹ in the autumn, a time when exacerbation are typically high and it also resulted in a reduction in absenteeism from school or work,” said Calhoun.

These findings could change international standards of care. It would reduce costs because patients would need less medication and it would also limit long-term exposure to corticosteroids.

Under his doctor's care, Frank Grizzaffi no longer needs to follow his old regimen.

“I’ll take one puff⁷ in the morning and that usually takes care of it the rest of the day. I feel great, I feel really good,” he said.

Dr. Calhoun advises patients with mild to moderate asthma to check with their doctors to see if this strategy might work for them. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

8 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

11 exacerbation   

n.恶化，激怒，增剧；转剧

参考例句：

• Bleeding may be herralded by several day of exacerbation of pain. 数天的疼痛加剧可能为出血的先兆。 来自辞典例句
• For several days, he has had an exacerbation of ulcer symptoms. 近日他溃疡病症状加剧。 来自辞典例句