Almost two out of three children with severe asthma are boys. But women account for more than two out of three adults with severe asthma. And no one really knows why. Those are some of the most striking results of a cross-sectional study of severe asthma by researchers from National Jewish Medical and Research Center being published in the October issue of the journal Chest. The research team, led by Joseph Spahn, M.D., also found that children with severe asthma had surprisingly good airflow in and out of their lungs, which could lead to misdiagnosis and undertreatment of seriously ill patients.

"Our findings highlight many of the significant differences between severe asthma in children and adults," said Dr. Spahn. "We hope they will spur further research that can lead to a better understanding and better treatment of this disease."

People with severe asthma, whose asthma remains uncontrolled in spite of high doses of medication, represent 5 percent to 10 percent of the estimated 20 million asthma patients in the United States. But they are important in terms of suffering, medical costs and difficulty finding effective treatments. Dr. Spahn and his colleagues examined a variety of demographic and biological data for 275 patients with severe asthma who had been referred to National Jewish.

Physicians have suspected that severe asthma differs considerably from childhood to adulthood, and indeed that turned out to be the case. The greatest difference was the male-to-female ratio. Males accounted for 62% of the patients under age 18. But 68% of the severe asthma patients over 18 were female. A similar situation has been noted in mild and moderate asthma, but not in patients with severe asthma.

"There has been speculation that a woman's hormones or possibly a difference in the size of male and female lungs play a role in this changing pattern of asthma prevalence, but no one really knows for sure why it occurs," said Dr. Spahn. "If we could learn w
'"/>

Contact: William Allstetter
allstetterw@njc.org
303-398-1002
National Jewish Medical and Research Center
14-Oct-2003

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Researchers to put changing public services under the microscope
2. Satellite view highlights Europes changing landscape
3. Experience is more effective than classroom learning in changing age bias in dental students
4. COPDs changing face
5. U.S. cancer mortality rates reflect changing socioeconomic patterns
6. UT Southwestern Nobel laureate leads bold project changing way scientists conduct research
7. New mathematical model explains changing patterns in epidemics
8. New nationwide study in six cities will look at the method & message for changing risky HIV behavior
9. New generation contact lenses cut risk of severe eye infection
10. Men with severe sleep breathing disorder have higher risk of heart problems
11. Teen athletes continue tobacco use, despite severe consequences