HOUSTON, Apr 14, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A U.S. scientist says he's discovered
one month of induced difficult breathing might help asthma sufferers breathe
easier in the long run.
University of Houston Associate Professor Richard Bond terms his hypothesis
"paradoxical pharmacology" -- treating patients with medicine that initially
worsens their symptoms before eventually improving them.
He first applied such a procedure in studies with mice and then in two clinical
trials with humans.
Giving beta blockers to asthmatics has long been thought to be contraindicated
because use of such drugs might cause increased airway resistance.
Bond's tests initially done on asthmatic mice and later replicated in his first
clinical trial with humans showed that while beta blockers initially made
breathing problems worse, their continued use resulted in improved respiratory
function after a 28-day period.
The longer-term effects, he said, demonstrate that chronic use of beta blockers
alleviates asthma by helping the smooth muscle lining the airways to relax and
dilate, thereby allowing air to flow more freely.
The research involving mice was recently published in the American Journal of
Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. The results of the first human trial
were recently published in the journal Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International