Research and insights on severe asthma in children

(Press-News.org) New Rochelle, NY, September 9, 2010—A subset of children with asthma suffers from severe, treatment-resistant disease associated with more illness and greater allergic hypersensitivity, according to the results of the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute's Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP), presented in a recently published article in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/pai

Asthma is the most common chronic lung disease of children, with more than 6.6 million affected in the U.S. Although relatively few children have severe asthma, they account for almost half of asthma related expenditures.

SARP compared severe, therapy-resistant asthma in children and adults and identified age-specific characteristics of the disease. The results suggest that there are distinguishable clinical features of severe asthma that can be identified early in life. Authors Anne Fitzpatrick, PhD from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) and William Gerald Teague, MD from the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) review the highlights of the SARP findings in an article entitled "Severe Asthma in Children: Insights from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Severe Asthma Research Program". They conclude that children with severe, therapy-resistant asthma are more likely to have poorer lung function and higher levels of allergic sensitization and to be of African American or mixed ancestry. Their findings suggest that children as young as 6 years with severe asthma may already have structural airway changes.

"Identifying the features associated with severe, treatment-resistant asthma in children will allow us to better understand this illness and develop better treatments for these children who spend so much time struggling to breathe," says Harold Farber, MD, MSPH, Editor of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pulmonology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

INFORMATION:

Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology (formerly Pediatric Asthma, Allergy & Immunology) is a quarterly journal published in print and online. The Journal has expanded its coverage to synthesize the pulmonary, allergy, and immunology communities in the advancement of the respiratory health of children. The Journal provides comprehensive coverage to further the understanding, and optimize the treatment, of some of the most common and costly chronic illnesses in children. It includes original translational, clinical and epidemiologic research, public health, quality improvement, and case control studies, patient education research, and the latest research and standards of care for functional and genetic immune deficiencies and interstitial lung diseases. Tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/pai

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery and Population Health Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101

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