Ozone and Rhinovirus-Induced Disease in Asthmatics
AsthmaIn the U.S., morbidity associated with human rhinovirus (RV) infection represents a major health problem. In asthmatics, up to 80% of asthma exacerbations are associated with upper respiratory infections. Despite evidence that environmental oxidant pollutants, such as ozone, may increase the severity of viral disease, the mechanisms underlying such an effect have not been identified. This study will test the hypothesis that exposure of allergic asthmatic subjects to ambient levels of ozone directly enhances viral disease by increasing infectivity and intensifying virus-induced inflammation.
Monitoring of Patients With Asthma Performed by a Clinical Pharmacist Using a Mobile Application...
AsthmaAsthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the lungs. In Brazil it is responsible for about 4 to 8 deaths per day. Pharmacotherapeutic follow-up programs for people with asthma have a positive impact on treatment adherence, as well as on education about the disease, helping patients in their self-management and recognition of their health status. The use of mobile applications that assist in the monitoring and self-management of people with asthma has been increasing significantly, but we do not have much information about their real impact on the control of the disease. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the use of a mobile application in the monitoring and self-management of symptoms in adults with asthma in a pharmaceutical care program at a university outpatient clinic in São Paulo, Brazil.
Self-care, Remote Monitoring and Elearning for Children and Young People With Asthma
AsthmaAsthma is a long-term condition in children, often managed by general practitioners (GPs) in primary care but some children with asthma need hospital treatment and care by experienced paediatricians and nurses. The positive effects of treatment for childhood asthma are well-documented however, less than 50% children take their medications regularly as prescribed. As well as causing poor control of asthma symptoms, failing to take medication as prescribed is a problem that is causing huge cost and wastage to the NHS. Some of the barriers to taking medications as prescribed include people's beliefs about their illness or medications and forgetting or being too busy. These barriers can be addressed by providing education, reminders and incentives. Monitoring medication usage is complex but studies have shown that use of electronic monitoring devices with education does improve the number of asthma attacks. Digital solutions for asthma self-care, including "smart-inhalers" that monitor medication usage and Apps for remote monitoring and self-management are likely to transform health services by providing supported self-management, prioritisation of the more unwell patients and reductions in hospital visits. Asthma + me, a digital self-care solution has been developed by Aseptika Ltd, in consultation with Sheffield Children's Hospital, to support children with asthma. It uses a monitoring device that connects wirelessly to the Asthma +me App and monitors medication usage, providing education tips, reminders and incentives. In this project, 15 children (and their families) will trial Asthma + me with a PUFFClicker and a 3-4 hour education session and report what worked and what didn't using structured interviews and questionnaires. At the same time the investigators will map out the number of patients that could potentially use this solution to self-manage their asthma, with the support of the hospital, until they are ready to be discharged back to their GP.
Academic Achievement in Children With Asthma
AsthmaBackground: Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood with a prevalence that is 1.6 times greater in African American children than in Non-Hispanic White children.1 Nationally, 700,000 children are seen for asthma in Emergency Departments every year, 1% of which are seen at Children's National Health System in Washington, District of Columbia. School performance and school attendance has not been well studied in urban children with asthma, especially at the middle school level. Objective: Our purpose is to test the hypothesis that middle school children with asthma have worse school performance than middle school children without asthma in Washington DC and Prince George's county schools. Methods: The investigators will conduct a cross-sectional observational study of middle-school (grades 6-8 in the 2013-2014 school year) aged children with and without asthma recruited from the Emergency Departments and the IMPACT DC asthma clinic at CN. The investigators will collect demographic information, asthma severity information (for cases), and request that parents mail report cards and standardized test scores directly to the investigators. The investigators will use multivariable linear and logistic regression to determine if the presence of asthma is associated with school performance.
Conducting Annual Asthma Reviews Using Telehealthcare: Comparison With Standard Care (Face-to-face...
AsthmaThe National Report of Asthma Deaths published in 2014 highlighted significant deficiencies in both primary and secondary care resulting in one of the highest mortality rates in Europe. A key recommendation in the report is the provision of an annual asthma review in primary care. Telehealthcare is an alternative means of service delivery incorporating the use of telephone and e-mail consultations which may improve access and quality of patient care. There is scant data on the role of teleheathcare in asthma care. This is a single-centre, primary care-based, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the use of telehealthcare to conduct the annual asthma review for adult patients with well-controlled asthma. This will be compared with standard care (face-to-face consultations). Telehealthcare will consist of a telephone consultation followed by an e-mail with an attached personalised asthma action plan and a link to a video demonstrating inhaler technique. Standard care will involve a face-to-face consultation in primary care. The two patient groups will be compared prospectively to determine whether there is a difference in the quality of care evaluated in terms of the patient experience/ satisfaction, health-related quality of life, asthma control and frequency of asthma exacerbations over a 6 month period after the asthma review. The data will be presented in the form of frequency tables, bar charts and pie charts. Non-parametric tests will be applied to determine whether there is a significant difference in the quality of care received.
Asthma Control, Quality of Life and Emotional Feelings in a Real Life Setting
AsthmaThis study aims to evaluate the asthma control status, asthma symptoms (severity, frequency, and limitations on activities, etc.), QOL, and use of drugs for asthma attack in adult asthma patients.
ATP Project (Asthma afTer Polypectomy)
AsthmaNasal PolypsInflammation of the nasal and bronchial mucosa characterizing rhinitis and asthma are probably manifestations of the same disease. Multiple functional observations, pathogenic and clinical support that assertion. It is noteworthy that most asthma patients, who underwent a nasal endoscopic polypectomy, improve your asthma after surgery. This improvement would be related to the administration of oral steroids that these patients usually receive after surgery, or the disappearance of nasal discomfort caused by nasal polyps to improve ventilation. But this does not explain why this improvement, in some cases lasting for months after the operation, and without receiving oral steroids. It is speculated that severe nasal inflammation due to nasal polyps stimulate the bone marrow to produce more eosinophils, an increased supply of blood eosinophils, and consequently, a major bronchial eosinophilic inflammation, aggravating asthma. However, it is noteworthy that studies have evaluated the clinical impact in asthma after endoscopic nasal polypectomy, are scarce or performed on a small number of cases, the results are inconsistent and do not allow categorically whether or not such positive association. And more importantly, none of them included measurements of airway inflammation and hypothesized relationship between bronchial eosinophilic inflammation and nasal polyposis, aclarar.La remains finding that provides nasal endoscopic polypectomy objective improvement of severe asthma it could be a future therapeutic option to consider in patients with asthma and rhinosinusal polyposis.
Effect of Fasting on the Asthma Inflammasome
AsthmaBackground: Research shows that restricting calories has a positive effect on immune cell health in healthy people. Researchers want to learn if it will help people with asthma. They want to better understand how the body s immune response and lung function responds to short-term calorie restriction. For this, they want people to fast (no food or drink except water) for 24 hours. Objective: To explore the benefits of calorie restriction in people with asthma. Eligibility: Healthy people ages 18 to 60 who have a history consistent with asthma and prior documentation of airflow obstruction or wheezing. Design: Participants who have taken part in asthma research at NIH will be screened with a telephone interview. All other participants will have a medical history, blood tests, and physical exam. Eligible participants will return to the NIH Clinical Center one morning for 2 hours. They will be fed breakfast. They may have blood and urine tests. Participants will then fast for 24 hours. Participants will return to the Clinical Center the next morning for 4 hours. They will have blood drawn. They will eat breakfast and then repeat blood draws 2.5 hours later. They will have a urine test. Blood and urine tests will be done at the end of the fast and after the meals to confirm that the participant fasted for the full 24-hour period. Participants will have lung function tests and exhaled gas measurements. A machine will measure the volume of air they can breathe out. Some gases in the breath increase with inflammation. Participants will breathe into a machine that analyzes the gases in their breath.
Study to Evaluate the Impact of FeNO Assessments on Asthma Management Decisions in Subject 7 to...
AsthmaObjective: To evaluate the impact of FeNO assessments on asthma treatment decisions. Secondary objectives: Evaluate the ability of physicians to correctly assess airway inflammation using standard clinical assessment tools (i.e., prior to FeNO measurement). Estimate the cost consequences of changes in asthma management following FeNO determinations Number of participants: Approximately 40 to 50 subjects will participate in the study during an (approximately) 8-12 week study enrollment period. Reference product: NIOX MINO® Instrument (09-1100) Performance assessments: Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) Measurements will be performed according to the "Perform FeNO Measurement" guidelines on page 7 of the NIOX MINO® User Manual (February, 2011). Response to Study Physician Questions before (Questions 1, 2, and 3) and after (Question 4) FeNO has been measured and seen by the Physician/Health Care Practitioner. Safety assessments: The Investigator is responsible for the detection, reporting, and documentation of events meeting the definition of an Adverse Event (AE) and/or Serious Injuries as provided in this clinical investigation plan (CIP) from the time that informed consent has been provided and during the study period Criteria for evaluation: This is an observational, pilot study and there are currently no plans for a formal statistical analysis. Information gained from this study may be used to design subsequent studies in subjects with asthma. Data collected will be summarized in a clinical study report but will not be subject to formal hypothesis testing
Severe Asthma Research Program - Wake Forest University
AsthmaSevere Persistent AsthmaThe mission of SARP is to improve the understanding of severe asthma through the integrated study of the effect of genetics on the clinical and biological features of asthma and to investigate how these change over time. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to promote better treatments for severe asthma.