Predicting Asthma Attacks

Reported May 2008

ATLANTA, Ga. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Every year, asthma kills five-thousand people in the United States. Millions more suffer with the disease every day. Now, there's increasing research that environment plays a key role in causing asthma attacks, but how do you know what triggers your asthma? Researchers think they may have the answer.

Environmental chemist Charlene Bayer, Ph.D., was inspired by her daughter, who has asthma. "We really don't know what the particular triggers are and they may not be the same for every person," Dr. Bayer, principal research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Bayer's research team developed a sensor box. Small enough to carry in the pocket of a lightweight vest, it's designed to continuously monitor the air around people prone to asthma attacks. While inside a chamber, the system measures for seven different environmental stimuli -- all potential asthma triggers. Combined with an electronic peak flow meter, the system allows researchers to monitor what's in the air around a person and how their lungs may be reacting to it. If she has an asthma attack, they can see what might have contributed to it. "What we're looking at is a way to measure -- continuously measure -- exposure of people so that we can start linking exposure with asthma exacerbations," Dr. Bayer explained.

The box is so sensitive it could pick up the formaldehyde and organic compounds in a magic marker. Every change is a clue. "If we can get to the point where can say this compound or this series of compounds are the triggers for these people, we may be able to start understanding what really exacerbates asthma -- what we really need to control," Dr. Bayer said.

Answers that could one day provide help for the more than 20 million Americans with asthma. Researchers say the sensor system could be commercially available in as little as a year to help asthmatics monitor the air around them and help their doctors find better ways to treat them.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

American Industrial Hygiene Association
Melissa Hurley
(703) 846-0740
mhurley@aiha.org

Abby Vogel
Public Affairs
Georgia Institute of Technology
(404) 385-3364
avogel@gatech.edu

Researchers are developing smart, new dummy technology.

One of the most common kinds of accidents are rear-end collisions. Researchers say they may be on the road to preventing them.

Truckers often work more than 50 hours a week and can legally drive for up to eleven hours non-stop. With extra-long hours on the highway, exhaustion is a big concern. Now, virtual reality is being used to help make roads safer.

Each year, more than three million people are injured in car accidents, and every 12 minutes, someone dies in a crash. With so many cars on the road, it's a trend that's likely to continue and get worse! But now, high-tech crashes helping save lives.

You can be part of the scientific process studying global warming, just by observing what's blooming in your own backyard.

Every day, weather forecasters are put to the test for accurate daily predictions. It's a hard job that gets blamed for rained-out picnics, cancelled barbecues and delayed planes; but today, our forecasts are more accurate than any other time in history.

Every year, early warnings about dangerous thunderstorms -- even tornadoes and hurricanes -- help get millions of people out of harms way before the danger comes. Now, scientists are worried about a new threat: dust storms.

There's increasing research that environment plays a key role in causing asthma attacks, but how do you know what triggers your asthma? Researchers think they may have the answer.

Blind students are about to speed up their learning curve thanks to a new "smart" pen. Did you know, just three characters of Braille take up an inch on a page? This new pen can condense that information into just one smart dot.

Dyslexia can be a frustrating condition, making it difficult for children to read. Many think it is a visual issue, but a new study using a computer game reveals the problem may not only be with sight, but also sound.

The terms, symbols and patterns of mathematics are often confusing, but two choreographers have calculated a way to put the rhythm in problem-solving.

Astrophysicists are providing new insight on how the Earth's moon was created and what makes it special.