Study finds cause of allergic reaction could be growing in your lungs / The Facts about Mold

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Study finds cause of allergic reaction could be growing in your lungs

Posted by Moderator 523 days ago (http://www.eurekalert.org)
Category: Mold Studies/Research | Tags: aspergillus fumigatus lung asthma study

Scientists investigating the allergic reactions that asthmatics suffer towards a common mould have discovered that many people with asthma actually had the mould growing in their own lungs.

The research led by University of Leicester scientists at Glenfield Hospital has been published in the December 2010 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The team based in the Institute for Lung Health at the University of Leicester and Glenfield Hospital examined the impact on asthmatics of a common environmental mould, Aspergillus fumigates, usually found in soil and compost heaps.

Professor Andy Wardlaw from the University of Leicester said: "Asthma is a very common condition where the breathing tubes (bronchi) can go into spasm making it difficult to breathe. Around a fifth of adults with severe asthma, which they have had for a long time, get permanent (fixed) narrowing of their bronchi. It is known that A. fumigatus can grow in the lungs of some people with asthma and mould allergy, which can cause severe lung damage.

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