BACKGROUND Nearly all asthmatic subjects show bronchial hyperresponsiveness, in that the provocative concentration of histamine reducing forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) by 20% (PC20FEV1) is < or = 8 mg/ml histamine, and have underlying chronic inflammation of the bronchial wall mediated by T cells. The possible cause and effect relationship between these phenomena remains an enigm...

The prevalence of asthma in children is increasing worldwide. Although the features of asthma are well documented, defining asthma remains a problem. The clinical definition of asthma does not take into account the concept of airway inflammation. A broader definition that incorporates the inflammatory process, reversibility of airway obstruction, and airway responsiveness needs to be more widel...

Risk factors for bronchial hyperresponsiveness have previously been established in the general community. In settings where occupational asthma is a risk, it has not been established whether occupational sensitization or measures of exposure are important. Bronchial responsiveness to histamine was measured in a cohort of 506 workers exposed to acid anhydrides. Skin-prick tests were performed wi...

Several studies on the prognosis of occupational asthma have shown that a significant proportion of patients continue to experience asthmatic symptoms and nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness after cessation of work. The determinants of this unfavourable prognosis of asthma are: long duration of exposure before the onset of asthma; long duration of symptoms before diagnosis; baseline airwa...

The clinical significance of asymptomatic bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is not well-known. The aim of this study was to explore, in a cross-sectional analysis, the characteristics of adolescent subjects with asymptomatic BHR, as compared to nonhyperresponsive subjects and those with symptomatic BHR. The subjects were selected by date of birth from the register of general practitioners. Th...

BACKGROUND Candesartan, an AT(1) receptor antagonist, has been reported to have no association with persistent cough in subjects with hypertension, but there has been no study on the safety of its administration to hypertensive patients with symptomatic asthma. The aim of this study was to compare the adverse effects of candesartan and calcium antagonists on cough, pulmonary function, and bronc...

In severe asthma bronchial epithelial cells are damaged and detached, and it has been proposed that such damage might lead to the bronchial hyperresponsiveness that characterises asthma. To investigate the relation between airway hyperresponsiveness and epithelial damage, biopsy specimens of the bronchial mucus membrane were obtained at fibreoptic bronchoscopy from 11 patients with mild atopic ...