Many with moderate asthma have non-eosinophilic disease
A large subgroup of patients with mild-to-moderate asthma have persistently non-eosinophilic disease and may not improve with anti-inflammatory drugs, according to a study in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. A cross-sectional study of 995 patients with asthma enrolled in nine NHLBI Asthma Clinical Research Network trials found sputum eosinophilia in 36 percent of subjects not using an inhaled corticosteroid vs. 17 percent of those using an inhaled corticosteroid.
Read More
Primary care physicians treating most CIU patients
Most patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) are managed by primary care physicians, and antihistamines are the most common treatment, according to a study in Annals of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. Scientists at Genentech Inc., San Francisco, conducted a cross-sectional analysis using insurance claims, including 6,019 patients with claims consistent with CIU. Subjects' mean age was 36, and 56 percent were treated by primary care physicians, 14 percent by allergists and 5 percent by dermatologists. Sixty-seven percent of patients used prescription antihistamines, 54 percent used oral corticosteroids, 24 percent used montelukast, and 9 percent used oral doxepin.
Read More
Urticarial syndromes only a fraction of MDIS cases
Urticarial syndromes only explain a small fraction of multiple drug intolerance syndrome (MDIS) cases, according to a study in Annals of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. Researchers at Southern California Permanente Medical Group, San Diego, reviewed electronic medical record data from more than 2.3 million members who had a health care visit and at least 11 months of coverage during 2009. They also found MDIS is in part iatrogenic, as well as associated with overweight elderly women who have high rates of health care and medication usage. Multiple drug intolerance syndrome is associated with anxiety, but not predominately with IgE-mediated allergy or life-threatening illness.
Read More
|