Bronchial Asthma: Principles of Diagnosis and Treatment, 3rd Ed M. Eric Gershwin; Georges M. Halpern, The Humana Press Inc, 999 Riverview Dr, Suite 208, Totowa, NJ 07512 USA, 1994, 792 pp Strengths Interesting and comprehensive discussion of bronchial asthma,…
Reviews & Views
New Drug Offers Quick Relief for Asthma Suffers
As an asthma sufferer, you may have wished for a miracle drug that would alleviate your symptoms, yet have no adverse effects. Well, after decades of research, a new class of asthma medications known as “antileukotrienes” have hit the North…
Fighting Asthma With Facts
Children With Asthma: A Manual for Parents By Thomas F. Plaut, MD Pedipress, Inc., Amherst, Mass. 269 pp. $11.95 At 2 a.m., 3-year-old Nancy wakes up crying that she can’t breathe. Her parents rush into her room and discover that…
Do inhaled corticosteroids lead to reduced bone density?
THE QUESTION Do inhaled corticosteroids lead to reduced bone density? PAST STUDIES have shown that long-term use of oral corticosteroids, taken in pill form, may have adverse effects, including osteoporosis. Little such research has been done on the inhaled form…
Chronic Asthma Management
Traditionally, asthma has been treated with oral and inhaled bronchodilators, which help control the symptoms of asthma but do nothing for the inflammation. Now, the focus is on prevention, which involves treating the underlying inflammation as well as the bronchoconstriction,…
Allergic Asthma Attacks Associated with COPD Death Later
For most people, breathing is an automatic, thoughtless process. It’s not something we actively consider, unless, of course, we’re involved in a strenuous activity or suffer from a serious lung disorder like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For…
The increase in asthma and hay fever
Pollen, particulate matter and SO2 in ambient air Asthma and hay fever have both been rising dramatically in prevalence in Britain, as well as in other industrialized nations. In Cardiff, Wales, where the original research was conducted, 3.2% of primary…
Research Has Yet to Uncover Missing Pieces to Asthma Puzzle
Spending more time indoors, wall-to-wall carpeting, obesity, higher-density housing – even altered breathing patterns – may all be factors in the rising worldwide asthma rates, according to David Lang, M.D., a Philadelphia asthma specialist. “We are more sedentary than ever…
Association between air pollution and acute childhood wheezy episodes
There is considerable speculation about the reasons for the dramatically increased incidence and prevalence of childhood asthma in the UK – and in many other countries – over the past 20 years. Because seasonal fluctuations seem to have special influence,…
An Asthma Handbook For Patients and Families
Asthma By Allan M. Weinstein, MD McGraw Hill Book Co, 1987, $17.95 Ordinarily it should not take three people to review a book of 350 small pages with large print. The fact that this is so suggests that there must…