Over the past 12 years there have been 12 randomised control trials, involving 843 infants, evaluating the effect of salbutamol or albuterol on bronchiolitis. Of these, nine (75%) showed that bronchodilators had no effect. In three studies a small transient improvement in the acute clinical score was seen. Ipratropium bromide had no significant effect. There have been five recent randomised tri...

Patients whose asthma is not adequately controlled despite treatment with a combination of high dose inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting bronchodilators pose a major clinical challenge and an important health care problem. Patients with severe refractory disease often require regular oral corticosteroid use with an increased risk of steroid-related adverse events. Alternatively, immunomodul...

BACKGROUND Improper use of bronchodilators is associated with poor disease control, nonadherence to long-term therapy, and poor clinical outcomes. Our current understanding of factors associated with correct inhaler use and adherence is limited. We measured physician-and patient-reported confidence in device usage and associations with treatment adherence and COPD-related health status. METHO...

Current therapy for asthma is highly effective. β(2)-Adrenergic receptor (β(2)AR) agonists are the most effective bronchodilators and relax airway smooth muscle cells through increased cAMP concentrations and directly opening large conductance Ca(2+) channels. β(2)AR may also activate alternative signaling pathways that may have detrimental effects in asthma. Glucocorticoids are the most effect...

The guideline authors imply that our randomized controlled trial in 703 children with bronchiolitis supports their assertion that “clinical scores may vary from between observers”. This is a selective reading of our Limitations section. The cited article in fact showed an 18% (adjusted relative risk: 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.36) relative increase in successful hospital dischar...

BACKGROUND Asthma control and treatment compliance are widely investigated issues around the world. Studies have demonstrated relatively low asthma compliance and control in 40-90% of asthma patients in different countries. There are no available data on the Israeli adult asthmatic population OBJECTIVES To investigate the level of asthma control and compliance in adult asthmatic patients. M...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of childhood asthma has been increasing in China. This study aimed to compare the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of asthmatic children from urban and rural areas in Beijing, China. METHODS Schools, communities, and kindergartens were randomly selected by cluster random sampling from urban and rural areas in Beijing. Parents were surveyed by the same screening q...

The environment and health of a working population exposed simultaneously to jute and hemp were studied. Classical symptoms of byssinosis were not present but 21 workers (7%) complained of atypical tightness of the chest. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis among the exposed workers was statistically significant in comparison with controls. Effects of dust concentrations, age and duration of e...

BACKGROUND Airway function, as assessed by standard spirometry, and the intensity of dyspnea reported by asthmatic patients correlate poorly. OBJECTIVE This study tests the following two hypotheses: (1) that measures of the tendency of a patient to somatize will reduce the variation in the report of dyspnea not explained by airway function; and (2) that plethysmography is a better tool with w...

The introduction of aerosol therapy1”2 with bronchodilator drugs has added much to the management of obstructive pulmonary insufficiency.’ It is thought to be superior to oral and parenteral administration although comparative controlled data is lacking on this point.3 Since the combination of aerosol bronchodilators administered with intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) , superior r...