Recently, a study was published in the journal of Science Immunology which revealed new methods to treat season asthma. The research was done by a team of scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The lead author of the paper, Dr. Ben Ulrich, said that Asthma has no treatment, but the current practiced treatments only aim on easing the symptoms. Keep reading to more about this study.
Asthma is a chronic condition which can cause inflammation and blockage in the airways of your lungs. The signs of asthma can vary from patient to patient. The main symptoms include coughing at night or morning, wheezing, shortness of breath, and stress or pressure in the chest resulting in pains. Seasonal asthma is a kind of allergic asthma in which the symptoms get triggered due to allergens that can come at various times of the year. Most of the patients suffering from asthma have allergic asthma. It basically means that your asthma gets triggered by allergens around you.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Ben Ulrich said, “While spending time in the high-risk asthma clinic at Riley Hospital for Children, I observed many patients had a more intermittent disease course. We went into the lab and developed models to more accurately define allergic memory and recall response in the lung."
Also read: Pulmonologist Tips To Manage Asthma With Its Relation To Changes In Seasonal Metabolism
When a person comes in contact with seasonal allergens such as pollen, fungi or any other allergens that can only affect during a specific time of the year, they activate a particular type of cell that leads to inflammatory symptoms. These cells are responsible for excreting a certain cytokine named interleukin 9 or IL-9 which is the main reason for all these symptoms. The team also mentioned that the treatment option would be to aim on IL-9 to cope up from lung inflammation. Cytokine is cell secretion that leads to the immune system affecting other cells.
Dr. Mark Kaplan, the chairman of the IU School of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology and senior author of the study said that Asthma can exist in a person in different forms. Seasonal asthma can be very different due to the long exposure to allergens or fungi that can cause inflammation. He also added that the study published shows that targeting IL-9 in the lungs of seasonal asthma patient can help reduce the lung inflammation. This can be done by using memory cells that activate the recall response for allergies in the lungs and could help with a new method for treating asthma symptoms.
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