It has long been recognized, even during biblical times, that physical exercise may induce asthma symptoms in susceptible individuals. Nevertheless, the term exerciseinduced asthma (EIA) only became popular in the 1960s and 1970s when several reports addressed the pattern of airway response to exercise and the influence of drugs on EIA, particularly in children. Subsequently, reports of studies...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of obesity and asthma has increased concurrently over the last decades, suggesting a link between obesity and asthma. However, asthma might not be adequately diagnosed in this population. AIM To investigate whether not only overdiagnosis but also underdiagnosis of asthma is present in an obese population. METHODS Morbidly obese subjects with or without physician-di...

The paper by BAUMGARTNER et al. [1] raises very important questions pertaining to the interpretation and usefulness of randomised clinical trials, the use of surrogates of little relevance to the patient and the comparison of results using group average values. However, these problems are not adequately addressed. Whilst reference is given to the Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines to defin...

It has been established that inhaled tobramycin has a positive effect on respiratory function in Pseudomonas-aeruginosa positive patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In a previous study the authors reported that low-dose tobramycin preparations containing the preservative phenol caused significant bronchial obstruction. Recently, high-dose tobramycin preparations with and without preservatives/p...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction index are validated surrogate cardiovascular markers and are increased in subjects with COPD. We tested whether increased arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction occur in symptomatic smokers with no evidence of bronchial obstruction. Clini...

Correspondence to: Dr. Ph. Godard, Clinique des maladies respiratoires, Avenue Major Flandre, F-34059 Montpellier (France) Bronchial asthma has been defined as a bronchial disease inducing a reversible airway obstruction. Reed [1] proposed to name it: eosinophilic desquama-tive chronic bronchitis. This term is very interesting because it outlines the importance of inflammation in the pathogenes...

Intratracheal ectopic thyroid tissue is a rare abnormality that can cause airway obstruction. The symptoms can easily be confused with those of bronchial asthma. We describe the case of a 40-year-old man with subglottic thyroid tissue and multinodular goiter who had been misdiagnosed earlier with bronchial asthma. After the correct diagnosis was established, the lesion was excised via an extern...

Clinical asthma is estimated to occur in 4 to 7 percent of the US population, but respiratory symptoms are much more common. The correlation between asthma, tests of bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and symptoms is imprecise and difficult to ascertain. The prevalence of exercise-induced airflow obstruction is not well known in healthy adults. We studied 100 consecutive US Air Force members to det...

Assessing bronchial obstruction and reversibility is of help in diagnosing asthma. The forced oscillation technique (FOT) has gained popularity in children since minimal cooperation is required. Owing to the fact that measurements are performed during tidal breathing, the upper airway may significantly impact on the respiratory resistance (Rrs) [1, 2]. The glottic aperture narrows during tidal ...

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...