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Este inhalador “inteligente” para asmáticos te dice cuándo tienes que tomar la próxima dosis

Si eres asmático o conoces a alguien que sufra con esta enfermedad, ya estarás familiarizado con el funcionamiento de los distintos inhaladores que hay en el mercado. Los hay para tratamientos prolongados, para tomar durante semanas, y también de rescate, para recurrir a ellos en caso de problemas al respirar puntuales. Para que todos ellos funcionen, es vital tomarlos en el momento apropiado y…

Photo: CDC.gov

May is Asthma Awareness Month and World Asthma Day is Wednesday, May 6th this year! Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP), the goal of Asthma Awareness Month is to bring attention to daily asthma management strategies for patients and caregivers, as well as continue the conversation surrounding the condition through education. The first step the NAEPP recommends establishing a written Asthma Action Plan (or APP) between patients and their healthcare providers. APPs cover important asthma-related information, such as how to take medications to minimize airway inflammation and how to reduce exposure to environmental asthma triggers. Below are other steps that the NAEPP recommends:

-Use inhaled corticosteroids to control asthma if you have persistent asthma. Your doctor will help you choose the best treatment. -Use a written asthma action plan to highlight two things: 1) what to do daily to control your asthma, and 2) how to handle symptoms or asthma attacks. -Assess asthma severity at the initial visit to determine what treatment to start to get your asthma under control. -Assess and monitor how well controlled your asthma is at follow up visits. Your doctor may need to increase, or decrease your medicine to keep asthma under control. -Schedule follow-up visits at periodic intervals, and at least every six months. -Control environmental exposures such as allergens or irritants that worsen your asthma.

You can learn more about how to participate here. 

Photo: The New York Times

The New York Times recently covered an academic study titled “Prematurity and Prescription Asthma Medication from Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Danish National Cohort Study,” which examined asthma in people who were born as premature babies. The researchers found that, for such infants, asthma goes away as they grow older. By adulthood, their asthma risk is equivalent to adults who were born as full term. The study also concluded that the more premature a baby is born, the more likely they will require asthma medication in childhood.

The study, published in PLOS One, found that 27 percent of infants born earlier than 27 weeks required asthma medication during childhood, compared with 18 percent of those born at 28-31 weeks, 13 percent at 32-36 weeks, and 9 percent at full term.

But after controlling for socioeconomic status, maternal asthma, multiple birth and other factors, they found that by adolescence, the association had weakened, and by adulthood 2.4 percent of the former preemies required medication compared with 2.1 percent of those born full term, a clinically insignificant difference.

“There are more and more preemies,” said the lead author, Dr. Anne Louise Damgaard, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, “and we don’t really know what happens to them as they get older. But up to age 31, their lungs are pretty healthy. It’s possible that the differences may become more evident as they age.”

Read the full article here.

Photo: WebMD

A new study covered by WebMD and originally published in the scientific journal Nature conducted by British scientists revealed 34 new genes that may play a role in determining if people are at greater risk for developing asthma and other allergies. The researchers turned to epigenetics, a process by which gene activity is manipulated without altering one’s basic genetic code, to better understand the genetic mechanism underlying the immunoglobin E (IgE) antibody. In doing so, they identified the specific genes that regulate IgE, one of the antibodies involved in triggering allergic responses.  

Genes can be rendered inactive by attaching methyl molecules to the DNA, a process called methylation. The researchers analysed white blood cells from families with asthma in the UK to see whether methylation levels in certain parts of the genome were linked to the level of IgE in the blood. Further tests were carried out on volunteers in Wales and Canada to strengthen the results.

Overactive genes

They found strong associations between IgE and low methylation at 36 places in 34 genes. In people with asthma, these genes are overactive, making them produce more IgE which contributes to asthma symptoms. Some of the IgE-related genes were known to encode proteins produced by a type of white blood cell that promotes inflammation in the airways of people with asthma. The researchers believe these genes may activate these white blood cells, priming them to cause the most damage. To test this idea, they isolated the white cells from the blood of 24 subjects and showed that all 34 genes are most active in people with asthma who have high IgE levels.

Read the full article here.

According to a recent poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, many Americans believe their health is affected by lack of access to healthcare, personal behaviors, bacteria and viruses, high stress and prolonged exposure to environmental pollutants. In addition, many Americans believe their childhood experiences, including educations, socioeconomic status while growing up, location of upbringing, lack of vaccinations, and general family dietary habits have an impact on health into adulthood.

“When the public thinks about the causes of ill health, it’s not just about germs. They also see access to medical care, personal behavior, stress, and pollution as affecting health,” said Robert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

When given a list of 14 factors that might cause ill health, the top five causes cited by the public as extremely important are lack of access to high-quality medical care (42%), personal behavior (40%), viruses or bacteria (40%), high stress (37%), and exposure to air, water, or chemical pollution (35%).

Those rankings diverge, however, among ethnic groups. African Americans are more likely than whites to perceive lack of access to high-quality medical care (56% to 41%), God’s will (47% to 29%), having a low income (45% to 23%), and not having enough education (41% to 26%) as extremely important causes of individuals’ health problems. Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic whites (46% to 31%) to say that bad working conditions are extremely important.

Low-income people (those with household incomes less than $25,000 a year) are more likely than high-income people ($75,000 a year or more) to believe poor neighborhoods and housing conditions (40% to 27%) and bad working conditions (40% to 26%) are extremely important.

“This very important poll illustrates the dire socio-economic factors faced every day by too many people in this country. These factors can have as much, or more, impact on their health as disease – and they know it,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Here at the Foundation we have expanded our mission to address these factors, in order to ensure that everyone in America can attain the healthiest life possible.”

African Americans are more likely than whites to believe eating a poor diet in childhood (55% to 42%), not getting vaccinations as a child (54% to 43%), living in poverty in childhood (47% to 31%), not graduating from high school (46% to 26%), and being born premature or underweight (34% to 20%) are extremely important.

When asked specifically about things that happen to a person in childhood that can cause health problems when they are adults, a majority (54%) said that being abused or neglected in childhood was extremely important. In addition, more than four in ten listed the following childhood experiences as extremely important causes of a person’s health problems as an adult: living in a polluted area (44%), eating a poor diet (44%), and not getting vaccinations (43%).

Low-income people are more likely than those with high incomes to believe that the following childhood experiences are extremely important causes of future health problems: being abused or neglected in childhood (61% to 51%), living in a polluted environment in childhood (49% to 37%), eating a poor diet in childhood (50% to 36%), living in poverty in childhood (39% to 30%), and being born premature or underweight (30% to 18%).

A substantial number of people report having had negative experiences in childhood that they believe impacted their future health. Nearly four in ten (39%) said that they had one or more negative childhood experiences that they believe had a harmful impact on their adult health. The five childhood experiences people cite most often (from a list of 11) are the death or serious illness of a family member or close friend (18%), a serious physical injury or accident (13%), growing up in a low-income household (11%), parents divorcing or separating (11%), and a parent or other close family member losing a job (10%).

Those with household incomes of less than $25,000 a year (51%) are significantly more likely than those with household incomes of $75,000 a year or more (37%) to report one or more negative experiences in childhood that they believe had a harmful effect on their adult health.

Read the full article here.