Risk of severe asthma episodes predicted from fluctuation analysis of airway function

Urs Frey (), Tanja Brodbeck, Arnab Majumdar, D. Robin Taylor, G. Ian Town, Michael Silverman and Béla Suki
Additional contact information
Urs Frey: University Hospital of Berne
Tanja Brodbeck: University Hospital of Berne
Arnab Majumdar: Boston University
D. Robin Taylor: Dunedin/Christchurch Schools of Medicine, University of Otago
G. Ian Town: Dunedin/Christchurch Schools of Medicine, University of Otago
Michael Silverman: Leicester University
Béla Suki: Boston University

Nature, 2005, vol. 438, issue 7068, 667-670

Abstract: Keep track of asthma Chronic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways that erupts at unpredictable intervals as asthma attacks or episodes caused by severe airway obstruction. The ability to predict the long-term risk of asthma episodes would provide a much-needed quantitative basis for evaluating new drugs and refining treatment regimes. That was the aim of an analysis of the fluctuation of airway obstruction in a population of 80 asthmatics over an 18-month period. The results show that asthma is a dynamic process that can develop a long-range pattern. Specifically, regular use of a long-acting bronchodilator (salmeterol) decreased risk of airway obstruction but a widely used short-acting bronchodilator (albuterol) increased the long-term risk.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04176

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