University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks — and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes.

Researchers led by Dr. Sem Phan at the University of Michigan discovered that stem cell factor (SCF) plays a critical role in airway remodeling in asthma. This report can be found in the February 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

A new 12-week study2examined safety and efficacy measures of the maintenance combination asthma therapy, SYMBICORT® (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dehydrate) Inhalation Aerosol,2 in treating mild to moderate persistent asthma in children ages 6 to 15 years old2 who were previously treated with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS).2 Of note.

In the last few years, “personalized medicine”— using genetic or other molecular biology-based diagnostic tests to customize treatment for a particular patient — has emerged as a powerful new tool for health care.

A gene that is strongly associated with a risk of developing childhood onset asthma was identified by an international team of scientists, whose findings are published today in the journal Nature.

A gene that is strongly associated with a risk of developing childhood onset asthma is identified in new research published online today in Nature.

New data demonstrated that the combination asthma therapy, SYMBICORT (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate), led to significant improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQL) and greater patient-reported satisfaction with asthma treatment, versus its monocomponents (budesonide or formoterol) or placebo.

Asthma symptoms vary greatly among individuals and vary at times with each individual. In this comprehensive study in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers address the prevalence and process of step-down therapy as symptoms subside.