29 Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by reversible airways obstruction, airways inflammation and increased airways responsiveness to a variety of stimuli. Clinical and experimental studies have shown the contribution of the airways inflammation to clinical course and severity of asthma. Anti-inflammatory drugs are therefore of major importance in the treatment of ...

We observed a panel of 133 children (5-13 years of age) with asthma residing in the greater Seattle, Washington, area for an average of 58 days (range 28-112 days) during screening for enrollment in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) study. Daily self-reports of asthma symptoms were obtained from study diaries and compared with ambient air pollution levels in marginal repeated measu...

Results Based on a survey showed that 180/362 (49.7%) children with asthma had symptoms that were associated with the consumption of food. Sensitization to food allergens was found in 70 (19.3%) children with asthma. Oral provocation tests using DBPCFC was performed in 50 children with asthma, in whom the results of the interview and / or SPT and / or specific IgE indicated a possible involveme...

While rural living protects from asthma and allergies in many countries, results are conflicting in Latin America. We studied the prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms in children from urban, semiurban, and rural sectors in south Chile. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in semiurban and rural sectors in the province of Valdivia (n = 559) using the ISAAC (International Study...

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are highly prevalent chronic diseases in the general population. Both are characterized by similar mechanisms: airway inflammation, airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness. However, the distinction between the two obstructive diseases is not always clear. Multiple epidemiological studies demonstrate that in elderly people with o...

BACKGROUND Cured meat intake-a recent carcinogenic factor-may increase the risk of COPD, but its association with asthma remains unknown. Though body mass index (BMI) is a likely risk factor for asthma, its role in the diet-asthma association as a mediator has never been studied. We investigated the association between cured meat intake and worsening asthma symptoms in adults, and the role of B...

The prevalence of asthma in the South Fore region of Papua New Guinea was found to be 7.3%, which is thought exceptionally high for highland areas in this country. To investigate the prevalence of asthma and of chronic airflow limitation in a different highland region with similar living conditions, adults and children from 7 villages in the Asaro Valley were interviewed. Questions were asked a...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of asthma, by gender, in a population sample of asthma patients in Brazil. METHODS We conducted face-to-face interviews with 400 subjects (> 12 years of age) included in a national probability telephone sample of asthma patients in the Brazilian state capitals of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, and Salvador. Each of those 400 subjects completed a 53-item ...

BACKGROUND The definition or diagnosis of asthma is a challenge for both clinicians and epidemiologists. Symptom history is usually supplemented with tests of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) in spite of their uncertainty in improving diagnostic accuracy. METHODS To assess the interrelationship between respiratory symptoms, BHR, and clinical diagnosis of asthma, the respiratory symptoms of...

Predicting adult asthma, using childhood characteristics, is important for advising on prognosis and, potentially, for secondary prevention. A novel use of multivariate likelihood ratios (LRs) to quantify prognosis is described here. Of 718 subjects of a community-based cohort, 575 (80%) members were recruited at age 8-10 yrs and were re-assessed 15-17 yrs later. At baseline, information about ...