Conference showcases Asthma UK-funded research
02 June 2009

Asthma UK-funded research studies were among those presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) annual conference, which was attended by around 15,000 scientists, doctors and other health professionals.

Contributors included:

• Dr Tim Harrison, who presented results of a trial which suggests that giving people with asthma four times the usual amount of inhaled corticosteroid as soon as their symptoms worsen, might help them avoid having an asthma attack.
• Professor Donna Davies, who presented recent results from her work to create new treatments for virally-triggered asthma attacks in children.
• Dr Liam Heaney, who presented results from an ongoing project to discover the best medical tests for evaluating ‘difficult to control’ asthma. He presented work demonstrating that a test called ‘cardio-pulmonary exercise stress testing’ is helpful in distinguishing between individuals who have persisting symptoms due to asthma, and people whose symptoms have a different cause.
• Professor Neil Thomson, who has evaluated the potential of statins (commonly used to reduce cholesterol levels) for improving the symptoms of asthma. His Asthma UK-funded study showed that giving people statins alongside their normal inhalers didn’t improve their asthma symptoms. However, he has uncovered signs that statins might be a helpful treatment for people with COPD.
  

Other Asthma UK-funded researchers presenting at the ATS included Professor Sebastian Johnston, a world-expert on viruses and asthma, and Asthma UK Senior Research Fellow, Dr Seif Shaheen, who presented evidence that eating a ‘prudent’ diet might benefit lung health.

Dr Elaine Vickers, Research Relations Manager at Asthma UK said, ‘It is essential for scientists to meet and share information at conferences such as this. The ATS conference brings together thousands of researchers from across the globe conducting research into every aspect of asthma.

‘This environment stimulates ideas, provides opportunities for scientists to set up new collaborations and ensures that research to develop new asthma treatments, and ways to prevent and manage asthma, progresses as rapidly as possible.’