Advances In Pediatric Asthma Research Articles

Advances in adult asthma diagnosis and treatment in 2012: Potential therapeutics and gene-environment interactions

In the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2012, research reports related to asthma in adults clustered around mechanisms of disease, with a special focus on their potential for informing new therapies. There was also consideration of the effect of the environment on health from pollution, climate change, and epigenetic influences, underlining the importance of understanding gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of asthma and response to treatment.

Advances in pediatric asthma in 2012: Moving toward asthma prevention

Last year's "Advances in pediatric asthma: moving forward" concluded the following: "Now is also the time to utilize information recorded in electronic medical records to develop innovative disease management plans that will track asthma over time and enable timely decisions on interventions in order to maintain control that can lead to disease remission and prevention." This year's summary will focus on recent advances in pediatric asthma on modifying disease activity, preventing asthma exacerbations, managing severe asthma, and risk factors for predicting and managing early asthma, as indicated in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology publications in 2012. Recent reports continue to shed light on methods to improve asthma management through steps to assess disease activity, tools to standardize outcome measures in asthma, genetic markers that predict risk for asthma and appropriate treatment, and interventions that alter the early presentation of asthma to prevent progression. We are well on our way to creating a pathway around wellness in asthma care and also to use new tools to predict the risk for asthma and take steps to not only prevent asthma exacerbations but also to prevent the early manifestations of the disease and thus prevent its evolution to severe asthma.

Advances in pediatric asthma in 2011: Moving forward

Last year's "Advances in pediatric asthma" concluded with the following statement: "Perhaps new directions in personalized medicine and improved health care access and communication will help maintain steady progress in alleviating the burden of this disease in children, especially young children." This year's summary will focus on recent advances in pediatric asthma that show significant accomplishments in reducing asthma morbidity and mortality over the last 10 years and discuss some pathways to further reduce asthma burden, as indicated in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology publications in 2011. Some of the recent reports continue to shed light on methods to improve asthma management through steps to reduce asthma exacerbations, identify features of the disease in early childhood, alter asthma progression, intervene with nutrition, and more effectively implement the asthma guidelines. As new information evolves, it is also time to consider a revision of the asthma guidelines based on key studies that affect our management of the disease since the last revision in 2007. Now is also the time to use information recorded in electronic medical records to develop innovative disease management plans that will track asthma over time and enable timely decisions on interventions to maintain control that can lead to disease remission and prevention.

Advances in pediatric asthma in 2010: Addressing the major issues

Last year's "Advances in pediatric asthma" concluded with the following statement: "If we can close these [remaining] gaps through better communication, improvements in the health care system and new insights into treatment, we will move closer to better methods to intervene early in the course of the disease and induce clinical remission as quickly as possible in most children." This year's summary will focus on recent advances in pediatric asthma that take steps moving forward as reported in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology publications in 2010. Some of these recent reports show us how to improve asthma management through steps to better understand the natural history of asthma, individualize asthma care, reduce asthma exacerbations, and manage inner-city asthma and some potential new ways to use available medications to improve asthma control. It is clear that we have made many significant gains in managing asthma in children, but we have a ways to go to prevent asthma exacerbations, alter the natural history of the disease, and reduce health disparities in asthma care. Perhaps new directions in personalized medicine and improved health care access and communication will help maintain steady progress in alleviating the burden of this disease in children, especially young children.

Advances in pediatric asthma in 2009: Gaining control of childhood asthma

This year's summary will focus on recent advances in pediatric asthma as reported in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology publications in 2009. New National Asthma Education and Prevention Program asthma guidelines were released in 2007, with a particular emphasis on asthma control. Now that we have worked with the principals of the guidelines for 2 years, new insights are reported on how to implement the guidelines into clinical practice. This year's report will focus on gaps in management that need to be addressed, including health disparities, methods to improve asthma management through opportunities available in school-based asthma programs, and more information on the development of asthma in childhood. This information brings us closer to the point of managing children with controllable asthma and understanding reasons why asthma is not controlled in the remaining children. If we can close these gaps through better communication, improvements in the health care system, and new insights into treatment, we will move closer to better methods to intervene early in the course of the disease and induce clinical remission as quickly as possible in most children.

Advances in pediatric asthma in 2008: Where do we go now?

This year's summary focuses on recent advances in pediatric asthma as reported in Journal publications in 2008. New National Asthma Education and Prevention Program asthma guidelines were released in 2007 with a special emphasis on asthma control. Attention was redirected to methods that could reduce impairment, specifically symptom control, and minimize risk, including exacerbations. Journal theme issues in 2008 focused on several relevant asthma topics including asthma exacerbations, exercise-induced bronchospasm, asthma and obesity, and occupational asthma. This review highlights Journal articles and related articles that reinforce principles of the guidelines and also direct us to new information that will advance asthma care for children. A major step forward will be finding ways to implement the asthma guidelines.

Advances in pediatric asthma and atopic dermatitis

Allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy, and urticaria are common in general pediatric practice. This review highlights several significant advances in pediatric allergy over the past year, focusing on asthma and atopic dermatitis. With increasing options for the treatment of allergic diseases, much work is now focused on methods for individualizing treatments to a patient's phenotype and genotype. Progress over the past year includes the characterization of effects of regular albuterol use in patients with genetic variations in the beta-adrenergic receptor. Maintenance asthma regimens for children in the first years of life are also an ongoing focus. The relation between upper airway allergic inflammation and asthma has continued to accumulate support and now extends to the middle ear. Environmental influences on asthma and interventions have been described, including environmental controls for asthma and the role of air pollution on lung development in children. Finally, concerns have been raised regarding the use of topical immunomodulators in young children with atopic dermatitis. Progress continues in the care of children with atopic diseases. Attention to treatment with appropriate medications, patient-individualized environmental controls, and extensive education are the keys to successfully treating atopic children. This review highlights several recent advances but is not intended to be a comprehensive review.