An exciting alternative treatment for asthma that doesn't involve puffers or drugs shows good promise, finds a global study led by two Canadian doctors.
The treatment is called bronchial thermoplasty, a procedure that reduces areas of underlying smooth muscle that is responsible for the constriction of airways in asthma patients and leads to breathing difficulties.
"I'm no longer walking around winded," patients Brenda Donohue, who received the treatment five years ago, told 麻豆影视. "I no longer walk around with any shortness of breath."
The study found that patients with moderate or severe asthma who received the procedure showed significant positive changes including:
- decreases in asthma attacks;
- increases in days with no asthma symptoms;
- reduction in using medication; and,
- and an improvement in quality of life.
The randomized controlled study included 112 patients between the ages of 18-65 at 11 centres in four countries, and followed these patients for one year after treatment.
Results of the study are being published in the New England Journal of Medicine next week.
Bronchial thermoplasty is performed by a physician using light anesthesia. A flexible bronchoscope is inserted through the nose or mouth into the small to medium sized airways. The BT device generates radio frequency/thermal energy to reduce areas of underlying smooth muscle in the airways.
The procedure is completed in three treatment sessions, each lasting less than one hour, and spaced apart by about three weeks.
Donohue said that before she underwent the procedure, her asthma felt as if someone had "cut off your airways."
The two doctors from Hamilton, Ont. who have been testing bronchial thermoplasty for more than seven years, Dr. John Miller and Dr. Gerard Cox, say their research shows the treatment is safe, with few side effects.
The study found that patients treated with bronchial thermoplasty showed significant asthma improvement compared to another group that did not receive the procedure.
"These findings are very encouraging and are consistent with earlier trial results on bronchial thermoplasty," said Dr. Cox, a respirologist at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton's Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health.
"These results make us hopeful that bronchial thermoplasty may be a new option for asthma patients who have asthma symptoms despite use of current drug therapies."
Dr. Miller, the division head of thoracic surgery at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University, who co-authored the study, says the study's results are good news for the 2 million or so people in Canada who suffer from asthma.
"I'm quite pleased to say that our experience suggests that the procedure is quite well-tolerated, and it holds considerable promise for patients with asthma."
But Dr. Mark Greenwald of the Asthma Society of Canada, cautioned that more research must be done to determine if the treatment is safe.
"We know the effects of the procedure are good for a year or two, or probably longer, but we don't know anything about the long-term adverse effects," he said.
Bronchial thermoplasty is not a cure for asthma and medications are still needed in those who have received the procedure. But the hope is that physically altering spasm-prone airways could help thousands of patients with hard-to-control asthma breathe easier.
Other studies are still underway, and it will likely be the end of 2008 before the treatment is available to the general public.
Asthma is most common in childhood and occurs in approximately seven to 10 per cent of all children. According to The Canadian Lung Association, approximately 20 children and 500 adults die each year from asthma in Canada.
With a report by CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro and medical producer Elizabeth St. Philip
