Potential new treatment for severe asthma

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Blocking an immune system chemical may be a new approach to treating asthma, according to recent research.
Around one in ten people with asthma has severe disease and will be dependent on high doses of steroids to keep it under control. Researchers at Southampton General Hospital, UK, now report on a possible new treatment approach to help this group. They find that levels of an immune system chemical called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were higher in those with severe asthma.

However, drugs that block TNF have now been developed. When one of these, etanercept, was tried with a group of 17 people with severe asthma, they reported an improvement in their symptoms. Two were even well enough to discontinue one of their drugs. Further research is needed, but it may be that TNF-blockers represent a new way of helping people avoid high steroid doses for severe asthma.

Source
Thorax Online First 14th September 2005

Please take a moment to give us your comments. For questions about Health matters you may check our "Questions & Answers" Portal and Service.