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UA clinical trials seek to prevent asthma in children

By Jeff Jensen
Arizona Daily Wildcat,
April 11, 2000
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UA Respiratory Sciences Center awarded $1.3 million for research

The UA Respiratory Sciences Center has been awarded $1.3 million to participate in a nationwide study that evaluates current and future therapies and management strategies for children who suffer from asthma.

The funding for the study is being provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. The goal will be to develop therapies that can prevent asthma in susceptible children, according to the organization.

This study will include five other research institutions across the country and will establish and maintain centers that conduct multiple therapeutic trials for children with asthma. A coordinating center will gather data and support development.

"Selection of the Respiratory Sciences Center as a participant in this network confirms the Center's status among research institutions that focus their study on asthma," said Dr. Fernando Martinez, director of the UA Respiratory Sciences Center and principle investigator of this study.

"This landmark network will pioneer therapeutic trails and management strategies for children with asthma," Martinez added. "Research publications will disseminate its findings to medical professionals throughout the world, and have lasting impact on future treatments."

This funding is largely related to the rising prominence of asthma in national population, according to an institute press release.

The prevalence of asthma increased by 102 percent between 1980 and 1994, according to the National Institute of Health.

Coinciding with this increase was a shift in the prevalent age groups that suffer from this ailment.

"While the number of adults with asthma is greater than the number of children with asthma, the prevalence of asthma is rising more rapidly in preschool aged children than in any other group," said Dr. Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Co-investigators of this study include Drs. Wayne Morgan and Theresa Guilbert, both of the UA Respiratory Sciences Center.


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