Turning Up The Heat On Asthma

Reported October 2010

ST. LOUIS, MO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- 34 million Americans suffer from asthma. Many are able to manage their symptoms with steroids and other medications, but for some, asthma attacks are so severe those inhalers and other drugs aren’t enough. Now, doctors are offering those patients a new alternative by heating up their airways to provide relief.

“It feels when the asthma attack starts that your lungs are there and they’re full and they’re open, and then someone is just slowly wringing them out like a towel." Debbie Prosser told Ivanhoe.

Pulmonologists experts in lung diseases are now using a new drug-free treatment on Debbie called Bronchial Thermoplasty. A bronchoscope sees inside the patient’s lungs, then, a catheter is inserted into the main air passages. The catheter’s tip heats the passage walls decreasing the amount of smooth muscle that blocks airways during an asthma attack.

“That smooth muscle causes the windpipe to constrict and narrow down, and that’s what causes the patients to be short of breath." Mario Castro, M.D, a Pulmonologist at Washington University School of Medicine explained.

Patients undergo three 45-minute Thermoplasty procedures over three months. For Debbie, it’s a feeling of freedom she hasn’t had in 40 years.

“Really I'm just a normal 46 year old now. Three years ago I would have been a paranoid 44 year old or 43 year old who was worried all the time if I'm going to have an asthma attack. Now I don’t think about it, it’s not the first thing in my mind anymore.” Prosser said.

Finally Debbie’s asthma worries are gone. Bronchial Thermoplasty is the only treatment of its kind available for people with asthma. It is not a cure, but doctors say for people with the most severe asthma, it can relieve symptoms in ways that medication can’t. The FDA approved the treatment this year, but it is still not yet widely available in the U.S and it is only approved so far for use in adults.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Terri Montgomery
Data Control Coordinator
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO 63110-1093
(314) 362-6904
tmontgom@dom.wustl.edu

They can cost up to two million dollars! And now, from the rack, to the mold, to the road …we take you inside a Lamborghini lab to show you what’s being done there that could change what’s sitting in your own driveway

Sustain, maintain and save the earth. That’s the green motto … and now, the green standard for homes not only saves the environment, but also your health

The stream or river that runs through your neighborhood or city could reveal just how healthy your surroundings are

34-million Americans suffer from asthma. Now there’s a new alternative when inhalers and drugs don’t work

We know it’s a serious medical condition in adults … but did you know it kills kids as well? We’ll show you the signs and what can be done to lower blood pressure in the youngest patients

Millions of kids have trouble writing their own names, but now help is on the way in the form of a ‘robotic’ helping hand

Sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami? It’s being called the fifth taste that some of us might not be able to taste at all

Before you tackle that next DIY project, find out which power tools can cause the most harm after a weekend project

Warning! Power Tools Hurt Hands

This new mask could protect those who protect us

You’ve seen it on TV…a life-saving procedure to help patient’s breath easier – but now it’s new and improved and will help doctors save more lives in an emergency.

Dino’s ruled the earth 65-million-years ago and now, they’re ruling the art world.