Asthma Research Studies: How Is Asthma Diagnosed?
Global study started on the role of asthma minor aberrations and the best diagnosis of asthma. During the study, 800 patients in Europe, the United States, Brazil, Canada and China are followed for a year.
Professor Dirkje Postma, professor of pulmonary diseases at the University of Groningen and initiator of the research, expects to make significant improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of asthma patients with the results. "We still know very little about the influence of the small respiratory tract on asthma. This study makes it possible to make a huge blow in diagnostics and treatment. "
Asthma Research: How important is this study?
"Very important. Asthma patients are examined for a number of years while using their own medicines. In the study, a range of lung function tests and questionnaires are taken alongside blood, sputum and nasal epithelial research. That data is deposited against a CT scan. On the scan, advanced divergences determine the deviations in the small airways. Thus we can discover which test, or combination thereof, best relates to minor respiratory disturbances, with the severity of asthma and the course of time. In addition, we want to refine a questionnaire linked to Atlantis in lung function, blood, sputum and epithelial measurements. In conjunction with the treatment, in the future, a better insight can be obtained in the future, based on answers to the short questionnaire developed, or if there are aberrations in the small respiratory tract. Then you can start targeted diagnostics and treatment and stabilize asthma better. "
Asthma research: When are the results of the study noticeable for asthma patients?
"The last participant has had his first survey on 29 February. The results of the European Lung Conference will take place in September 2017. I think that lung doctors know more about the role of the small respiratory tract within five years. I expect them to diagnose more quickly and know which drug or combination of drugs for the individual patient results in the best results. "
Where is improvement required and possible?
"We measure airway permeability with FEV1 size (the maximum amount of air that can blow someone in 1 second). The problem is that the result gives a complete picture of the small and large airways. We do not know exactly where the constriction is. But the narrowing of these small airways may be one of the reasons why some asthmatics hardly benefit from their current drugs.
What causes the problem and how we can solve that is still insufficiently known. In addition, it is now that patients with certain complaints all prescribe the same type of medication, while one patient may benefit more from medicine A and the other in medicine B. Think of personalized medicine. In this regard, the Atlantis study will provide more knowledge. "
What are currently the treatment options for asthma attack?
"When I joined the University Medical Center Groningen in 1981, I had two airway wipers and one anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of asthma patients. It happened almost every week that someone was given a breath of breath due to a severe asthma attack. Nowadays we have a wide range of treatment options and therapies and the asthma suffered greatly. "