Content about Asthma

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Growing numbers of Americans with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are driving innovation among drug makers, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Epinephrine inhalers will not be made or sold after Dec. 31, and patients using them should get new prescriptions to replace them, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Epinephrine inhalers, which Armstrong Pharmaceutical markets under the brand name Primatene Mist, are used to relieve symptoms of mild asthma and are sold over-the-counter.

NEW YORK — The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus on Thursday recommended that Nu Century Herbs discontinue certain disease-state claims promoting the company’s Resprin dietary supplement.
 
NAD requested substantiation from Nu Century for claims made in Internet advertising, including: 

• “The natural solutions for your asthma/allergy customers growing healthcare concerns;”

NEW YORK — A health education television network has added nine condition-specific networks.

AccentHealth said in addition to its current lineup of four networks, the company will focus its attention on diabetes, heart health, men's health, mental health, senior women's health, rheumatology, allergies, asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease. These networks will reach and educate more than 13 million patients in doctors' waiting rooms each month through its digitally delivered content, the company said.

SAN DIEGO — HealthPrize Technologies and RealAge will launch a study next month that will test HealthPrize’s medication adherence technologies on patients taking asthma medications, the two companies said Wednesday.

HealthPrize is the creator of an Internet and mobile app that uses behavioral economics and gaming dynamics to improve medication adherence, while RealAge is a health website that uses the RealAge Test to assess a person’s mortality risk based on health-related factors.

ST. LOUIS — Missouri’s House of Representatives on Monday voted 100 in favor and 50 opposed to reclassifying pseudoephedrine as a prescription-only remedy and subsequently moved the matter to the state Senate — this despite the fact that electronic track-and-trace has been up and running for the past six months, blocking more than 30,000 potentially illegal PSE purchases, stated Scott Melville, president and CEO of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.

HORSHAM, Pa. — Patients with seasonal allergies are more likely to experience difficulty sleeping, according to results of a new survey conducted by Teva Respiratory.

BOSTON — InhalerWear on Tuesday announced its launch of a neoprene cover for inhalers that will help make carrying around an inhaler “trendy and cool” to children and teenagers. The new inhaler can be clipped to a backpack, purse or belt loop.

"We started InhalerWear because we knew the challenge facing parents was not in getting their kids to use their inhaler, but to get them to carry their inhalers with them at all times,” stated co-founder Rob Fiore.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that the only over-the-counter asthma inhaler sold in the United States no longer will be available as of Dec. 31 as part of an international agreement to stop the use of substances that damage the environment.

JERUSALEM — An investigational drug made by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for treating allergies is safe and effective, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial announced Wednesday.

Teva said the phase-3 trial of the nasally inhaled drug Qnaze (beclomethasone dipropionate) showed that it significantly relieved symptoms of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis compared with placebo while demonstrating a similar safety profile.

ATLANTA — Nationwide rates of asthma have been on the rise in recent years, though they’ve risen at a slow pace, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the report, released Wednesday, around 24.6 million people in the United States had asthma in 2009, meaning a prevalence of 8.2%. Rates have risen by around 1.2% per year since 2001, with asthma attack prevalence staying between 3.9% and 4.3% between 1997 and 2009.

NEW YORK — A link may exist between diabetes and the use of inhaled corticosteroids to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to published reports.

HealthDay News reported that researchers analyzed data on 380,000 patients in Quebec, finding a 34% increase in the rate of new diagnoses of diabetes and progression of the disease among those who used inhalers, with greater risk among those using higher doses.