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Globally, more than 1.2 billion inhalers are purchased for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) annually. In Australia and New Zealand, pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) are the leading delivery device prescribed and pMDI salbutamol can be purchased over the counter in Australia. These inhalers are a major contributor to healthcare related greenhouse gases.
The twenty-first century has seen a fundamental shift in disease epidemiology with anthropogenic environmental change emerging as the likely dominant factor affecting the distribution and severity of current and future human disease. This is especially true of allergic diseases and asthma with their intimate relationship with the natural environment.
Mothers with asthma or atopy have a higher likelihood of having autistic children, with maternal immune activation in pregnancy implicated as a mechanism. This study aimed to determine, in a prospective cohort of mothers with asthma and their infants, whether inflammatory gene expression in pregnancy is associated with likelihood of future autism.
nfants with frequent viral and bacterial respiratory infections exhibit compromised immunity to routine immunizations. They are also more likely to develop chronic respiratory diseases in later childhood. This study investigated the feasibility of epigenetic profiling to reveal endotype-specific molecular pathways with potential for early identification and immuno-modulation.
Shannon Elizabeth Simpson Smith BMedSci (hons), PhD PhD, MSc, BSc Head, Strong Beginnings Research, Co-head Foundations of Lung Disease Program
Obesity is a contributing factor to asthma severity; while it has long been understood that obesity is related to greater asthma burden, the mechanisms though which this occurs have not been fully elucidated. One common explanation is that obesity mechanically reduces lung volume through accumulation of adipose tissue external to the thoracic cavity.
Whereas asthma was rare in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the marked increase in its incidence and prevalence since the 1960s points to substantial gene ×...
This paper is a review of potential novel therapeutic targets or tools for the treatment of asthma and COPD.
Asthma exacerbations are associated with human rhinovirus (HRV) infections, and more severe exacerbations are associated with HRV-C.
These data highlight that antigen administration to the neonate through the oral route may contribute to child allergic sensitization and have important...