View clinical trials related to Asthma.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to create a patient registry to collect and analyze information on subjects treated with the CryoSpray Ablation™ System post-510K approval.
We plan to use the Life Shirt to record tidal volume, respiratory rate and breathing pattern over a 6 hour period in patients admitted with difficult asthma. The Life Shirt will also be used to collect the same data over the same time period in a group of healthy controls. This data will then be correlated with the assessment of the supervising consultant as to whether the patient has any element of dysfunctional breathing contributing to their symptoms. It is hoped that the data obtained may in future be used to offer treatment to those patients with dysfunctional breathing.
The purpose of this study is to to compare the effects of high-dose Inhaled Corticosteroids (ICS) vs. placebo in adults with chronic stable asthma.
This study has two purposes: 1. to determine whether lovastatin, a commonly used medication to lower cholesterol in the blood, can produce beneficial changes in airway inflammation and in the airway smooth muscle 2. to examine whether lovastatin will have favorable changes in asthma symptoms of patients with moderate or severe asthma.
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and effects (good and bad) of golimumab therapy in patients with severe, persistent asthma.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways affecting approximately 15 million individuals in the U.S. The rate of asthma exacerbations among women is twice that of men after adolescence, and a large proportion of females with asthma report worsened asthma symptoms during different phases of the menstrual cycle. Hormonal influences have been hypothesized to account for these differences. Decreased peak flow rates and increased symptoms have been found in females during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle when estrogen and progesterone levels are low. Estrogen and progesterone have both been found to reduce smooth muscle contractility and increase bronchial smooth muscle relaxation. A perimenstrual shift toward a Th2 (allergic) phenotype characterized by a decreased interferon-gamma to interleukin-10 ratio has been demonstrated in healthy women not using oral contraceptives compared to midcycle; however, the effect was blunted in healthy oral contraceptive pill users, implying hormonal modulation of the allergic phenotype. Several case reports have demonstrated a therapeutic benefit of oral contraceptives in decreasing asthma exacerbations and corticosteroid requirements. Human studies have demonstrated that estrogen decreases pro-inflammatory cytokine generation, neutrophil recruitment, and inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase activity, which could lead to lower exhaled nitric oxide levels. The measurement of the fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a non-invasive method to assess airway inflammation in adults and children with asthma. The hypotheses of the current study are that women using oral contraceptives will have lower FENO levels and better asthma control as assessed by the Asthma Control TestTM during different phases of the menstrual cycle. This study may identify clinically important changes in FENO levels and asthma control during the menstrual cycle and modification of these effects by oral contraceptive pills. This data may lead to future studies aimed at identifying therapeutic roles for hormones in asthma therapy in women.
The main objective is to evaluate how treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) affects the characteristics of airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells from asthmatic subjects. Our hypothesis is that airway smooth muscle cell dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma, and that treatment with inhaled corticosteroids reverses the abnormalities in airway smooth muscle cell function.
We wish to understand the association of Vitamin A serum levels and Vitamin A receptor number and responsiveness in asthmatics. We believe that Vitamin A receptors may be less prevalent in asthmatics and their responsiveness decreased.
Since 1980, the number of people in the United States diagnosed with asthma has increased dramatically. Studying what causes and triggers asthma is an important part of understanding and subsequently managing this disease. Although some have suggested that alcohol consumption may affect asthma, little is known about how consistent alcohol use affects the amount of inflammation present in the lungs and whether consistent alcohol use makes the airways more narrow and stiff. Participation in this study involves 2 visits in order to complete questionnaires, various pulmonary function tests, as well as the collection of blood, urine, and exhaled breath condensate specimens. This study includes optional genetic and bronchoscopy substudies.
This study will test whether pioglitazone hydrochloride (Actos (Registered Trademark) Registered Trademark) is effective for treating patients with asthma who do not respond to standard therapy. Experiments have shown that this drug, which is used to treat patients with diabetes, may be effective for treating asthma. People between 18 and 75 years of age who have had asthma for at least a1 year and whose symptoms are not well controlled with high doses of inhaled corticosteroids with or without long-acting bronchodilators may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with breathing tests, an allergy skin test, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram (ultrasound test of the heart), blood tests, and DEXA scan (an x-ray to measure bone thickness) to make sure they are eligible for the study. Then, participants undergo tests and procedures in the following study phases: Phase 1 Participants are given a device to measure and record their lung function and asthma symptoms at home each morning and night for 4 weeks before starting the study medication. Lung function is also measured at clinic visits before and after inhaling a bronchodilator medicine. Before starting the study medication, participants have a sputum induction (sputum collection test). For this test, the participants inhale a salt-water mist and are asked to collect sputum into a plastic cup. Phase II Participants are randomly selected to receive either pioglitazone hydrochloride or placebo (a look-alike pill with no active ingredient) once a day for 10 weeks. They return to the clinic after 2 weeks to repeat the tests done in Phase 1 and to monitor any reactions to the study drug or placebo. If there are no problems, the amount of medication is increased once, and then they return for follow-up evaluations every 2 weeks for 8 weeks. Pulmonary function tests, sputum collection and DEXA scan are repeated after 10 weeks on medication. Phase III Patients return for follow-up 1 month after stopping the medication or placebo to monitor their asthma.