M R Sears

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..The role of obesity in mediating this association is also unclear. We explored the associations between respiratory symptoms, lung function, and gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms in a birth cohort of approximately 1000 individuals...

..Variations in air pollution exposure within a community may be associated with asthma prevalence. However, studies conducted to date have produced inconsistent results, possibly due to errors in measurement of the exposures...

..In both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, concomitant use of ICS should be considered best practice whenever LABAs are used...

..The outcome of childhood asthma in adults has been described in high-risk cohorts, but few population-based studies have reported the risk factors for persistence and relapse...

..Failure to respond to usual therapies requires careful consideration of differential diagnosis, type of inflammation present, compliance with therapy, and continuing monitoring and re-assessment...

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..Recognizing risk factors for exacerbations and implementing appropriate long-term management strategies coupled with improved compliance should reduce morbidity and mortality associated with asthma exacerbations...

..Cardiac-related serious adverse events were not increased, and asthma-related serious adverse events were significantly reduced with formoterol...

..The recent change in classification from short- and long-acting beta2-agonists to rapid-acting and/or long-acting agents reflects the ongoing evolution of beta2-agonist therapy...

..The FDA has recommended that LABAs be withdrawn when control is achieved with combination therapy but recent evidence suggests this may result in loss of symptom control...

..Low use of asthma medications during summer may fuel the epidemic, which may be attenuated by the short-term addition of an effective controller therapy...

..It is time to learn from the past, to rigorously avoid LABA monotherapy in asthma, and to use a LABA (when indicated) always in mandatory combination with appropriate doses of an ICS...

..This review addresses these safety concerns together with clinical studies and meta-analyses assessing the appropriate use of LABAs...

..Breastfeeding is widely advocated to reduce risk of atopy and asthma, but the evidence for such an effect is conflicting. We aimed to assess long-term outcomes of asthma and atopy related to breastfeeding in a New Zealand birth cohort...

..This study examined the safety of the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/LABA combination budesonide/formoterol dry powder inhaler used as maintenance and reliever therapy versus combination treatments based on guideline recommendations...

..Because of its rapid onset of action, formoterol also has the potential to be used for as-needed bronchodilator therapy in asthma...

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..These data suggest that airway remodeling in asthma, as manifested by impaired lung function, begins in childhood and continues into adult life...

..62; p = 0.02) than in males (HR, 1.35; p = 0.12). CONCLUSION: The influence of parental atopy on the development for wheeze differs between males and females and between childhood- and adolescent-onset wheeze...

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..Predictable peaks of asthma exacerbation requiring hospital treatment, of greatest magnitude in children and of uncertain etiology, occur globally after school returns...

..The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether measuring sputum differential cell counts, particularly eosinophils, could be a useful method of validating self-reported symptoms suggesting asthma in epidemiologic studies...

..Epidemiologically, the degree of asthma control achieved by asthmatics is an important predictor of the likelihood of disease exacerbation including respiratory failure, death, and health service consumption...

..Long acting beta-agonists are indicated in individuals whose asthma is not well controlled on moderate doses of inhaled corticosteroid, and are complementary to, not a replacement for, inhaled corticosteroid therapy...

..GINA Controlled/Partly Controlled and GOAL Totally Controlled/Well-Controlled correspond to ACQ-5 <1.00. The ACQ-5 is more responsive to change in a clinical trial setting than a categorical scale...

..Objectives: To determine the safety of long-acting beta-agonists among patients with asthma using corticosteroids...

..The influence of breast-feeding on the risk of developing atopy and asthma remains controversial...

..A recurring epidemic of asthma exacerbations in children occurs annually in September in North America when school resumes after summer vacation...

..However, they do not normalize lung function and prevent structural changes in the airway wall in all asthmatic patients...

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..Viral infections are associated with the majority of asthma exacerbations in children and adults. Increased asthma hospitalization rates of children and adults, particularly in the early fall, have been observed to follow school vacations...

..The PAR for adult-onset asthma in high-risk jobs and exposures was 18.2%. The assessment of occupation and industry alone, rather than of exposures, may underestimate the contribution of occupational exposures to asthma prevalence...

..We investigated ED management of asthma and differences in practice patterns for pediatric (< 20 years old) and adult (> or = 20 years old) patients in Ontario EDs...

..We investigated mortality in relation to neighbourhood levels of income and air pollution in an urban area...

..This review examines recent studies of the relationships between breastfeeding and the epidemiology of allergic diseases, especially atopic dermatitis in infants and asthma in early and later childhood...

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..Postmarketing surveillance studies have not suggested significant adverse effects of long-acting beta-agonists on morbidity and mortality...

..We suggest that rather than considering AHR as a marker of asthma, it should be regarded as a parallel pathological process that may lead to subsequent symptoms and clinical evidence of asthma...

..The aim of this study was to test the hypotheses that exposure to traffic and air pollution might account for some of the socioeconomic differences in mortality rates in a city where residents are covered by universal health insurance...

..Although not statistically significant due to the size of the study, this result suggests that it may be an effective therapy for smoking cessation, and larger studies are warranted...

..The overall effect of treatment on the natural history of the disease is not yet clear, despite significant short-term improvements from effective anti-inflammatory therapy...

..We measured bronchial responsiveness using the standardized protocol of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) in six sites in Canada, and compared prevalences across Canada with international sites...

..We sought to determine whether a standardized emergency department (ED) asthma care pathway (ACP) for adults would be accepted by ED staff, improve adherence to Canadian ED asthma management guidelines and improve patient outcomes...

..Hospitalization rates for asthma vary more than threefold across regions of Ontario. It is not known whether this variation is primarily due to regional differences in the rate of emergency department (ED) visits or hospital admissions...

..This disparity in regional variations in the prevalence rates suggests dissimilar risk factors for the development or expression of wheezing (asthma), allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic eczema...

..5 years (95% confidence interval: 0.2, 4.8). By comparison, the rate advancement periods attributable to chronic pulmonary disease, chronic ischemic heart disease, and diabetes were 3.4 years, 3.1 years, and 4.4 years, respectively...

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..Whether such developmental subtypes exist in the population and have different prognoses should be rigorously tested to inform the DSM-V...

..Adjustable maintenance dosing with budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler (Symbicort, AstraZeneca, Lund, Sweden) may provide a convenient means of maintaining asthma control with the minimum effective medication level...

..To assess the possible effects of tobacco and cannabis smoking on lung function in young adults between the ages of 18 and 26...

..It remains unclear if this association is due to genuine asthma or to symptoms caused by overweight, at what age the association develops, and whether it is confined to females...

..To determine the frequency of relapse of asthma in young adults in remission at 18 years of age, during a follow-up period of 8 years, and to identify possible prognostic markers for relapse...

..The objective of the present study was to enumerate and characterize airflow obstruction in a random sample of Canadians aged 20 to 44 years...

..Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed...

..Exhaled nitric oxide is a noninvasive measure of asthmatic airway inflammation...

..Cigarette smoke has immunosuppressant effects, but its effect on allergic sensitization is unclear...

..Exhaled nitric oxide is a noninvasive measure of asthmatic airway inflammation...

..We explored the association between the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)) and the systemic inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) in young adults...

..One possible explanation might be that these studies have used body mass index to identify adiposity, which might be a less reliable measure of body fat in men than in women...

..However, many constitutional and environmental factors affect F(E)NO, making it difficult to devise reference values. Our aim was to evaluate the relative importance of factors affecting F(E)NO in a well characterised adult population...

..We aimed to test the hypothesis that children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with a wide range of health risk factors and outcomes in adult life...

..Mortality from asthma increased during the last decades but is now declining in some countries. Little is known about this trend in Brazil...