Asthma

Let’s Read an Article a Month – July 2023

by

Every month I try to read an open-access article. Then, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up-to-date, and continue to grow.

The objective of this month’s paper is to investigate “the association between the full range of gestational ages (GA) and obstructive airway disease (asthma and/or COPD) in early and mid-adulthood, using nationwide data from two Nordic countries” (p2). 

Preterm birth and asthma and COPD in adulthood: a nationwide register study from two Nordic countries 

By: Anna Pulakka, Kari Risnes, Johanna Metsälä, Suvi Alenius, Katriina Heikkilä, Sara Marie Nilsen, Pieta Näsänen-Gilmore, Peija Haaramo, Mika Gissler, Signe Opdahl and Eero Kajantie.

European Respiratory Journal 2023 61: 2201763; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01763-2022

Link to the article:  https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/61/6/2201763

n=(Finland, born 1987-1998: 706,717 and Norway, born 1967-1999: 1,669,528)

“ Adults born preterm are more often treated in specialist care for obstructive airway diseases, including both asthma and COPD, compared to individuals born full term. The higher risk is extended to those born late preterm and early term and is higher for those who received a  bronchopulmonary dysplasia diagnosis in infancy or who were born SGA. Preterm birth should be recognised as a risk factor for obstructive airway diseases in adulthood, and full medical history for people presenting with respiratory symptoms should include key perinatal data such as birth weight, gestational age and key pregnancy conditions.”

page 10

As always, take the time to study the article and learn about all the results and findings. 

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

July 18th, 2023

https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-July-2023/

Let’s read an article a month – November 2022 

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I read an open-access article. I share the title and associated link with my followers to encourage clinicians to read more articles, stay up-to-date, and continue to grow.

The objective of this month’s paper is to “examine the associations of early-life upper and lower respiratory tract infections with lung function and asthma at school age” (p3).

Early-life respiratory tract infections and the risk of school-age lower lung function and asthma: a meta-analysis of 150 000 European children

By: Evelien R. van Meel, Sara M. Mensink-Bout, Herman T. den Dekker, Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Syed Hasan Arshad, Nour Baïz, Henrique Barros, Andrea von Berg, Hans Bisgaard, Klaus Bønnelykke, Christian J. Carlsson, Maribel Casas, Leda Chatzi, Cecile Chevrier, Geertje Dalmeijer, Carol Dezateux, Karel Duchen, Merete Eggesbø, Cornelis van der Ent, Maria Fantini, Claudia Flexeder, Urs Frey, Fransesco Forastiere, Ulrike Gehring, Davide Gori, Raquel Granell, Lucy J. Griffiths, Hazel Inskip, Joanna Jerzynska, Anne M. Karvonen, Thomas Keil, Cecily Kelleher, Manolis Kogevinas, Gudrun Koppen, Claudia E. Kuehni, Nathalie Lambrechts, Susanne Lau, Irina Lehmann, Johnny Ludvigsson, Maria Christine Magnus, Erik Mélen, John Mehegan, Monique Mommers, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Wenche Nystad, Eva S.L. Pedersen, Juha Pekkanen, Ville Peltola, Katharine C. Pike, Angela Pinot de Moira, Costanza Pizzi, Kinga Polanska, Maja Popovic, Daniela Porta, Graham Roberts, Ana Cristina Santos, Erica S. Schultz, Marie Standl, Jordi Sunyer, Carel Thijs, Laura Toivonen, Eleonora Uphoff, Jakob Usemann, Marina Vafeidi, John Wright, Johan C. de Jongste, Vincent W.V. Jaddoe, Liesbeth Duijts”

European Respiratory Journal 2022 60: 2102395; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.02395-2021 . Received: 2 Sept 2021. Accepted: 9 March 2022.

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/60/4/2102395.full.pdf

  • “The prevalence of upper and lower respiratory tract infections was highest at the age of 1 year” (p4).
  • “The mean prevalence of asthma across all cohorts was 12.3%” (p4).

“1) early-life upper respiratory tract infections were associated with an increased risk of school-age asthma, not lung function, and 2) early-life lower respiratory tract infections were associated with increased risks of both school-age lower lung function (FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF75%) and asthma. “

p7

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

November 9th, 2022

https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-November-2022/

Let’s read an article a month – January 2022

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I read an open-access article. Then, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read more articles, stay up to date, and continue to grow.

The coexistence of asthma and COPD: risk factors, clinical history and lung function trajectories

By: Alessandro Marcon, Francesca Locatelli, Shyamali C. Dharmage, Cecilie Svanes, Joachim Heinrich, Bénédicte Leynaert, Peter Burney, Angelo Corsico, Gulser Caliskan, Lucia Calciano, Thorarinn Gislason, Christer Janson, Deborah Jarvis, Rain Jõgi, Theodore Lytras, Andrei Malinovschi, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Kjell Toren, Lidia Casas, Giuseppe Verlato, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, and Simone Accordini on behalf of the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) study

European Respiratory Journal 2021 58: 2004656; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.04656-2020

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/58/5/2004656.full.pdf

The reasons I found this article interesting 

A detailed study with around 20 years of medical history. A large number of individuals [14864, 9251 and 6122, respectively in ECRHS I, II and III who underwent clinical examinations, from 23 centres] (p4).  Useful observations were presented based on past asthma, current asthma, asthma + COPD, and COPD alone. A recommended article to students, new RRTs and even experienced clinicians.  There are many results, findings and conclusions that I cannot cover in a post. As always, I recommend that you read the full article for yourself.

”Lung function decline for subjects with asthma + COPD could have been mitigated by long-term anti-inflammatory treatment. “ (p9).

“The coexistence of asthma and COPD  seems to be a form of severe asthma with severe asthma with origins early in life, as opposed to COPD alone, which is more linked to adult exposures.”  (p10).

”…COPD without concomitant features of asthma seems predominantly linked to adult-life toxic inhalant exposures.  Exposure avoidance (e.g. through smoking cessation and reduction of pollution exposure in occupational settings) may be particularly beneficial against the development of the “pure COPD” phenotype…” (p10).

Happy reading and learning.

Farzad Refahi

January 01, 2022

Link to the blog post: https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-January-2022/

Let’s read an article a month – November 2021

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. After reading the article, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up to date, and continue to grow.

This paper investigated “causal associations to estimate the causal effects of fathers’ smoking initiation in prepuberty (generation G1) and grandmothers’ smoking in pregnancy (generation G0) on offspring’s lung function (generation G2) within the paternal line” (p2).

Prenatal and prepubertal exposures to tobacco smoke in men may cause lower lung function in future offspring: a three-generation study using a causal modelling approach

By: Simone Accordini, Lucia Calciano, Ane Johannessen, Bryndis Benediktsdóttir, Randi Jacobsen Bertelsen, Lennart Bråbäck, Shyamali C. Dharmage, Bertil Forsberg, Francisco Gómez Real, John W. Holloway, Mathias Holm, Christer Janson, Nils O. Jõgi, Rain Jõgi, Andrei Malinovschi, Alessandro Marcon, Jesús Martínez-Moratalla Rovira, José Luis Sánchez-Ramos, Vivi Schlünssen, Kjell Torén, Deborah Jarvis, and Cecilie Svanes.

European Respiratory Journal 2021 58: 2002791; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.02791-2020 

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/4/2002791?etoc

Reasons you may find this article interesting:

  • Perhaps not surprising: “Fathers’ smoking initiation in prepuberty was associated with an increased risk for nonallergic asthma in offspring” (p9).
  • Interesting finding from the analyses of the collected data:  “fathers’ overweight onset before 15 years of age had a direct effect on nonallergic asthma in the next generation” (p9).
  • Lastly, check out one of their conclusions:

“Men who initiated smoking before 15 years of age may have offspring with lower lung function compared with men who had never smoked. Grandmothers’smoking in pregnancy may have a negative impact on their sons’ lung function, an effect that could be carried over to their grandchildren. These results support the concept that lifestyle-related exposures in male prepuberty and in pregnancy influence the health of future generations. ”

(p10)

As always, I encourage you to read the article to learn about all the details.

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

November 5, 2021

https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-November-2021/

Let’s read an article a month – January 2021

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. After reading the article, I share the tittle and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up to date, and continue to grow.

This month I found a great piece to share with you.  This one falls under asthma and biologic treatments. The objective of this paper is to “ [describe] the effects of alarmins and [discuss] the potential role of anti-alarmins in the context of existing biologics “ (p1 ).

Anti-alarmins in asthma: targeting the airway epithelium with next-generation biologics

By: C. M. Porsbjerg, A. Sverrild, C. M. Lloyd, A. N. Menzies-Gow and E. H. Bel 

European Respiratory Journal 2020 56: 2000260; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00260-2020

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/5/2000260

Reasons you may find this article interesting 

  • Great review of inflammatory pathways in asthma (beginning on page 2).
  • An in-depth discussion of targeting the alarmins using biological therapies (beginning on page 6).  
  • Useful visualization to help put things in perspective ( Figure 1 on page 3 and Figure 2 on page 7). 

While I recommend you check out this article, I need to give you a heads-up. If you are not as familiar with asthma inflammatory pathways, you may need to dedicate more time to this piece.  Personally, I had to come back to it a few times.

Happy learning and reading!

Farzad Refahi

January 1st, 2021

Link to the blog post: https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-january-2021