A clinical trial conducted in England has revealed a groundbreaking treatment method for asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) patients.
Doctors tested the effects of the drug Benralizumab on asthma and COPD patients and found that this treatment method was much more effective than traditional treatments on life-threatening breathing difficulties in people with severe disease. This new treatment has been described as a “game changer” as it is the first innovation for asthma attacks in 50 years.
TARGETS WHITE BLOOD CELLS
Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody and is especially effective in patients with a type called eosinophilic asthma. This type of asthma affects the lungs, targeting white blood cells that cause the airways to swell and close. While eosinophilic asthma accounts for approximately half of all asthma attacks, the same biological mechanism plays a role in one-third of severe exacerbations of COPD.
REVOLUTIONARY
Researchers at King’s College London found that patients with asthma or COPD experienced less wheezing, shortness of breath and other symptoms after a four-week period of injection with Benralizumab. Professor Mona Bafadhel, one of the experts leading the study, stated that this treatment method could be a great revolution for asthma and COPD patients.
50 YEARS LATER
Samantha Walker, doctor of the Asthma + Lung UK charity, emphasized that this development is exciting, but at the same time, the new treatment, developed for the first time in 50 years, is an indicator of how underfunded lung health research is.
(DHA)