Current Research For Asthma

Much of the current research concerning asthma is focusing on the inflammatory reaction that occurs as a response to an allergen because this is believed to cause over 90% of all newly diagnosed asthma cases.

Unfortunately there are far too many research projects going on around the world to mention here, so only a few will be included.

The University of Sydney in Australia is currently trying to stop the harmful cells responsible for the inflammatory reaction from being produced. These cells are stimulated by chemical messengers called cytokines and current medications, such as steroids, act to reduce the concentration of cytokines and stop the inflammatory response. Unfortunately, steroids also affect a number of other tissues in the body and are known to produce side effects. The researchers at the university are studying how the cytokines are produced, and hopefully they can stop production and stop the inflammatory response. 

At the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, researchers have been monitoring the long term effects of asthmatic episodes on the lining of the airways and how the degree of scarring produced by frequent inflammatory responses can affect how well current medications work. They are trying to develop a non-invasive technique that will allow them to determine the extent of scarring and how this affects the potency of various asthmatic medications.

Meanwhile, researchers at Erlangen University in Germany are working on developing new corticosteroids for use against asthma that don’t cause the side effects commonly seen today. Corticosteroids do not specifically act on the cells of the airways, and consequently have an affect on a number of other parts of the body. This causes numerous unwanted side effects, so researchers are trying to find an alternative class of drug that has the same pharmacological action as corticosteroids, but doesn’t elicit side effects.  

In India however, one research lab is focusing on intrinsic asthma where an external cause cannot be discerned and the condition may be more genetic than environmental. Here, researchers are working towards developing personalised drugs specific to your genetic make-up. So far they have identified a number of possible genes that may be responsible for asthma in addition to chromosomal areas which might contain other potentially important genes. Unfortunately, because genetic predisposition has been found to vary according to ethnicity, meaning some races are more susceptible to asthma than others, the research still has a long way to go before personalised drugs will be made available to asthmatics.

On a totally different subject, a National Jewish research facility in America is carrying out studies to determine how closely patients adhere to their prescribed drug regimen. As many as 50% of cases which remain uncontrolled are thought to be the fault of the patient rather than the medication. By asking volunteers to use electronic inhalers, doctors and researchers can determine how often patients take their medication and how closely they stick to their prescriptions. It is thought that this will help control asthma in many of the reported uncontrolled cases. 

The examples above are just a few of the research programmes currently being developed around the world. Many are focusing on developing alternative medications that affect the immune system and the resulting inflammatory response rather than trying to find an outright cure for asthma. This is because the details of asthma physiology are still unclear and until they are understood precisely a cure cannot be found. As more and more information about asthma is ascertained, researchers will work towards an ultimate cure. Until then, they will continue to improve medications and other methods of treatment.