A new steroid treatment has been introduced for children suffering from a life-threatening lung condition.
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a catch-all term associated with the inability of lung tissue to take up oxygen. The lungs of patients with this condition become very stiff and are incapable of transferring oxygen into the blood.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
ARDS is a lung condition where the patient suffers from sudden breathlessness, low blood oxygen levels and lung inflammation that could progress to respiratory failure.
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‘Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is the inability of the lungs to take up oxygen as it becomes very stiff and incapable to transfer oxygen into the blood.’
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"Over the last 20-30 years researchers have come up with novel therapies but have not been able to move the needle substantially in terms of reducing mortality of ARDS patients," said Kanwaljeet Anand, professor at Stanford University in California, US.
In the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics, the team conducted the first-ever randomised control trial and saw clinical differences in children treated with steroids.
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Children in intensive care units requiring mechanical ventilation were treated with the drugs corticosteroid and methylprednisolone.
The findings showed suppressed inflammation, "although the trial did not improve mortality or the duration that mechanical ventilation was required, the children's ventilation and blood oxygenation improved," explained one of the researchers Dai Kimura from University of Tennessee in US.
"This is a very significant outcome as, even with a small pilot study, we were able to demonstrate significant differences in those treated with steroids," Anand added.
To develop an effective steroid treatment for ARDS, the team needed more information how steroids affect lung inflammation.
"The study found that there are important differences in biomarker levels in the children that received the steroids, compared with those who did not," Kimura noted.
Source: IANS
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Children in intensive care units requiring mechanical ventilation were treated with the drugs corticosteroid and methylprednisolone.
The findings showed suppressed inflammation, "although the trial did not improve mortality or the duration that mechanical ventilation was required, the children's ventilation and blood oxygenation improved," explained one of the researchers Dai Kimura from University of Tennessee in US.
"This is a very significant outcome as, even with a small pilot study, we were able to demonstrate significant differences in those treated with steroids," Anand added.
To develop an effective steroid treatment for ARDS, the team needed more information how steroids affect lung inflammation.
"The study found that there are important differences in biomarker levels in the children that received the steroids, compared with those who did not," Kimura noted.
Source: IANS
Acute Respiratory Infections Claim Lives of More Than 35,000 People in India
Air pollution is the fifth main cause of deaths in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution, tobacco smoking and poor nutrition.
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 Acute Respiratory Disease Cases On Rise In India Due To Air Pollution: Health Ministry ReportAir pollution leads to a wide array of health effects, of which ARI has accounted for the maximum number of cases. Around 3.5 crore ARI cases were reported in 2014. | Advertisement
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