Purified components of ginger may have properties that help asthma patients breathe more easily, a study from researchers at Columbia University have revealed.

Asthma is characterized by bronchoconstriction, a tightening of the bronchial tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs. Bronchodilating medications called beta-agonists are among the most common types of asthma medications and work by relaxing the airway smooth muscle (ASM) tissues.

This study looked at whether specific components of ginger could help enhance the relaxing effects of bronchodilators.

“Asthma has become more prevalent in recent years, but despite an improved understanding of what causes asthma and how it develops, during the past 40 years few new treatment agents have been approved for targeting asthma symptoms,” said lead author Elizabeth Townsend, PhD, post-doctoral research fellow in the Columbia University Department of Anesthesiology.

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Living in locations closest to the equator can put people at increased risk of developing allergy and asthma due to higher UV-B rays exposure, according to a new study.

“UV-B rays exposure is higher for people living in areas closer to the equator. This increase in UV-B may be linked to vitamin D, which is thought to modify the immune system. These modifications can lead to an elevated risk of developing allergy and asthma,” said Vicka Oktaria, MPH, lead study author.

Previous studies have shown that latitude can reflect a variation in airborne allergens due to climate, housing and social and cultural differences. This study is one of the first using the individuals latitude location and UV-B exposure to examine the association with allergy and asthma.

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A study by researchers at Columbia University (USA) reveals that leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in energy metabolism, fertility and bone mass, also regulates the diameter of the airways.

The findings could explain why obese people are prone to asthma and suggest that body weight–associated asthma may be relieved with medications that inhibit signaling through the parasympathetic nervous system, which mediates leptin function.

“Our study started with the clinical observation that both obesity and anorexia can lead to asthma,” said Gerard Karsenty MD, PhD, professor and chair of genetics and development and professor of medicine at CUMC, and lead author of the study. “This led us to suspect that there must be a signal coming from fat cells that somehow affects the lungs —directly or indirectly.” The most likely candidate was leptin, a protein made by fat cells that circulates in the bloodstream and travels to the brain.

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People suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma — in which psychological stress plays a major role — may benefit from mindfulness meditation techniques, researchers say.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction, originally designed for patients with chronic pain, consists of continuously focusing attention on the breath, bodily sensations and mental content while seated, walking or practicing yoga.

While interest in meditation as a means of reducing stress has grown over the years, there has been little evidence to support benefits specific to mindfulness meditation practice.

This was the first study designed to control for other therapeutic mechanisms, such as supportive social interaction, expert instruction, or learning new skills.

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Exposure to high pollen levels in late pregnancy significantly increases the risk of early asthma in the child, Swedish researchers have warned.

A number of studies have previously shown that there is an association with being born during a pollen season and an increased risk of allergies.

Although the pollen season is a regular annual event, there are large variations between years in pollen levels.

Few studies have closely examined the significance of actual pollen content in different time periods before and after birth, but now, researchers at the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Umeå University have conducted such a study involving 110,000 pregnancies in the Stockholm area.

The researchers note that high levels of pollen exposure during the last 12 weeks of pregnancy resulted in a significantly increased risk of hospitalization for asthma symptoms in the first year of life for a child. The analysis was adjusted for factors such as maternal smoking and pollen season.

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Nearly a fifth of people in the UK fail to change their bed sheets at least one a month, which could result in them suffering from a host of health woes ranging from asthma to rhinitis and eczema, according to new figures.

The research, commissioned for the home retailer Dunelm Mill, found that more than 50 percent people slept in dirty sheets.

The survey of more than 2,000 people found that just two in five people changed their sheets weekly, the Daily Mail reported.

A further 36 percent performed the task fortnightly, while 17 percent admitted that they changed their dirty sheets just once a month or even less frequently.

Meanwhile, six percent of people admitted to changing the sheets more than once a week, one percent of people admitted that they changed it just once a year, while three percent had no idea.

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A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, a new research has revealed.

The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.

The research was conducted by scientists from the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center.

“Most people with asthma have allergic asthma, resulting largely from allergic responses to inhaled substances,” said the paper’s corresponding author Donald Cook, Ph.D., an NIEHS scientist.

His research team began the study to identify environmental factors that amplify the allergic responses.

“Although flagellin is not an allergen, it can boost allergic responses to true allergens,” Cook stated.

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Young children with severe or persistent asthma are more likely to develop many common mental health problems like anxiety and depression, an Australian study says.

University of Western Australia (UWA) psychologist and study co-author Monique Robinson said their findings build on previous studies which have found that as the severity of asthma increases, so do problems such as anxiety and depression.

Herbal remedies for anxiety

“We were interested in understanding the link between asthma in early childhood and mental health problems later on as little is known about the relationship,” Robinson said, the journal Psychological Medicine reports.
“We looked at whether the link was present for mild as well as severe asthma, and whether the link depended on asthma symptoms being persistent throughout childhood as opposed to asthma that lessens as the child grows older,” added Robin, according to an UWA statement.

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British scientists have uncovered several factors, which include physical inactivity and sadness that could explain why children with asthma or any chronic medical condition are more likely to be bullied.

Researchers from the Derbyshire Children’s Hospital in Britain, used data from the large six-country “Room to Breathe” survey of childhood asthma, to look at the factors tied to an increased risk of bullying.

Parents and children aged seven years and above were interviewed for the study. Data was collected from 943 questionnaires which asked questions about conditions at home, lifestyle of parents and children and their overall experience of their condition.

The results revealed factors such as a reduced participation in sport and feelings of sadness were linked with bullying.

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A diet rich in fruits and veggies may lessen the harmful effects of air pollution for people suffering from chronic lung diseases, researchers suggest.

Researchers looked at London hospital patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and found that those with low levels of vitamin C had an increased risk of breathing problems on days when outdoor air pollution levels were high.

“This study adds to a small but growing body of evidence that the effects of air pollution might be modified by antioxidants,” said Michael Brauer, an environmental health scientist at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Antioxidants, such as vitamin C, may protect the body from harmful molecules called free radicals that damage cells. Free radicals can form when air pollution enters the lungs, and evidence suggests they play a role in heart disease, cancer and even respiratory ailments.

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