Researchers claim to have found a new treatment for asthma attacks for the first time in half a century, writes the BBC.Clinical trials of the drug Benralizumab have shown that it is much more effective than conventional steroid pills helps with life-threatening breathing problems in people with severe disease.The monoclonal antibodies in it target a type of white blood cell called eosinophils, which can enter the lungs of people with so-called eosinophilic asthma and cause the airways to swell and close.This form of asthma accounts for about half of all asthma exacerbations.The same biological mechanism underlies a third of all severe exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).But researchers from King's College London found that patients with asthma or COPD who received an injection of the drug during an attack were less likely to suffer wheezing, shortness of breath and other symptoms four weeks later.If such an attack - difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and a feeling of tightness in the chest - cannot be controlled with conventional inhalers, doctors are now prescribing a course of steroids.Benralizumab is already used in the most severe cases, but recent research shows it can be used more regularly.Scientists have guessed that not all asthma or COPD attacks are the same. Rather, different parts of the immune system respond differently in different patients.“We can now see that there are different patterns of inflammation and we can prescribe the right treatment to the right patient at the right time,” says Professor Mona Bafadhel from King's College.In the study, which involved 158 participants, patients were followed up for three months after treatment of an exacerbation.The results, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showed a treatment failure rate of 74% with steroids and 45% with the new therapy.People who received the new therapy were less likely to be hospitalized, require retreatment, or die.Volunteers also reported improved symptoms and quality of life while taking the new drug.“This is a revolutionary step, we haven't changed treatment in 50 years - it will change the way we approach treating people when they are quite ill,” says Prof. Bafadhel.Benralizumab is not yet ready for widespread use.A larger study, due to start in 2025 and run for two years, is needed to see if it is beneficial.The new study will also have to assess cost-effectiveness because monoclonal antibodies, like the new drug, are fairly expensive drugs.But Dr. Sanjay Ramakrishnan of Oxford University says the results of the work so far “show great promise” and that COPD treatment is “stuck in the 20th century” despite it being one of the leading causes of death worldwide.For decades, asthma attacks have been treated with steroids, reducing inflammation and swelling in the lungs.But they don't always help, so patients have to undergo repeated courses of medication, leading to repeated hospitalization and sometimes death.Regular steroid use also increases the risk of diabetes and osteoporosis.
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