Startling results of a research trial in Bradford into the effectiveness of a drug to treat severe allergic asthma have been presented to the European Respiratory Society congress in Vienna.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was one of several centres taking part in a Novartis Pharmaceuticals trial of a drug called omalizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody that blocks the action of immunoglobulin E, an antibody involved in the underlying mechanism of allergic asthma, a chronic condition which affects an estimated 14,315 people in the UK.
Asthma causes an average of three deaths in the UK every day, 90 per cent of which are preventable with the right management.
Dr Dinesh Saralaya, a consultant respiratory physician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the findings showed long-term treatment with omalizumab significantly improved a range of outcomes for people with severe persistent allergic asthma.
People using the drug for two years or more saw a 100 per reduction in GP visits, admissions to intensive care units were reduced by up to 95.2 per cent, hospital bed days were reduced by up to 97.8 per cent, accident and emergency visits were reduced by up to 82.1 per cent and the mean maintenance dose of oral corticosteroids was reduced by up to 68.3 per cent.
via Telegraph & Argus
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