The epidemiologic association between acetaminophen use and asthma prevalence and severity in children and adults is well established. A variety of observations suggest that acetaminophen use has contributed to the recent increase in asthma…
Exercise-induced dyspnea in children and adolescents can occur for many reasons. Although asthma is the common cause, failure to prevent exercise-induced asthma by pretreatment with a bronchodilator, such as albuterol, indicates that other etiologies…
Wheezing in children is a common problem encountered by family physicians. Approximately 25 to 30 percent of infants will have at least one wheezing episode, and nearly one half of children have a history of wheezing by six years of age. The most…
Primary care physicians (PCPs) usually are the first to diagnose and care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This article discusses key teaching points of recently published guidelines for PCPs and the common challenges…
Background: Surfactant protein (SP) D has been proposed to be protective in allergic airway responses. Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of SP-D deficiency on murine and human airway allergy. Methods: Immunologic responses of SP-D…
Methacholine challenge testing (MCT), also sometimes described as bronchoprovocation testing, is widely performed for both research and diagnostic purposes. MCT is clinically useful when the patient presents with a history of symptoms suggesting…
Introduction: Humidity is commonly associated with increased airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma. Objective: To examine mold sensitization in patients with allergic asthma or allergic rhinitis and self-reports of humidity as exacerbating factors of…
Asthma is characterized by pathological airway remodeling resulting from persistent myofibroblast activation. Although transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), mechanical signals, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in fibroblast…
Mast cells (MCs) develop from hematopoietic progenitors and differentiate into mature MCs that reside within connective or mucosal tissues. Though the number of MCs in tissues usually remains constant, inflammation and asthma disturb this…
