A new device that offers drug-free bedside filtered air flow can significantly reduce patients' symptoms such as wheezing and tight chests in asthmatics. The temperature controlled laminar airflow treatment, called Protexo, filters out airborne triggers such as dust particles and mites, pet hairs and powders that cause irritation and inflammation of the lungs.
According to asthma experts the low-cost device led to such an improvement in patients' quality of life, that it should be made be available on the NHS. They added that the machine achieved results equivalent to those made by expensive drugs and would lead to less time in hospital meaning its £4000 cost would pay for itself. It is also quiet and easy to use.
“This device makes a significant difference to people's lives, with an effect as big as very expensive treatments, and it helps prevent the triggers of the disease,” said Prof John Warner, a consultant pediatrician at St Mary's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Imperial College London, who led the study. “Our findings support the importance of focusing exposure control interventions on the breathing zone, and highlight the role of nocturnal exposures in precipitating airway inflammation and symptoms in patients with atopic asthma,” he said. The European study of patients, aged seven to 70, found those who used the device recorded 15 per cent better quality of life scores after a year than those given a dummy machine. All of the 281 participants in the study from six countries were non-smokers and had poorly controlled allergic (atopic) asthma. A total of 189 patients slept with the Protexo just above their bed for 12 months with 92 others having a placebo.
A validated score was used to assess quality of life before and after the study period along with assessments of symptom control, lung capacity, airway inflammation and biological indicators of a systemic allergic response. A steeper fall in nitric oxide - an indicator of inflammation - was seen among those using Protexo and this was particularly noticeable among those with more severe asthma. Those using the device also had significantly smaller increases in another indicator of persistent and more severe inflammation - a chemical known as IgE (immunoglobulin E).
Asthma, usually caused by an allergy to airborne dust, pollen or pollution, affects more than 5.1 million Britons and experts warn the number of sufferers is on the rise. The main medication currently involves taking two types of inhaled drugs, which either help to reduce the frequency of attacks or instantly open up constricted airways, helping breathing. The researchers, whose findings are published online in the journal Thorax, said Protexo worked by displacing warmer air containing irritants and allergens such as house dust mite and pet hairs with the slightly colder air.
The impact was greatest among those whose asthma required the most medication yet whose symptoms were the most poorly controlled - a group who “represent a significant area of unmet need,” said Prof Warner. Prof Warner said there were fewer hospital admissions among the group using Protexo. “The reason nocturnal TLA is successful where so many other approaches have failed may be the profound reduction in inhaled aeroallergen exposure, which this treatment achieves,” he said.
The machine, which uses the same energy as a light bulb but is not yet available for private purchase, costs around US$3,000 for six months' use.
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