Researchers have announced that they have found a new treatment for asthma attacks for the first time in 50 years. A new treatment method against asthma attacks was discovered after 50 years.
An injection used in the treatment suppresses part of the immune system that is activated during an asthma attack and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease known as COPD.
Benralizumab is currently used in severe cases, but recent research has shown that it could be used routinely in asthma attacks.
The UK records two million asthma attacks each year. The team of researchers from King’s College London said the new drug could revolutionise the treatment of asthma.
The study found that not all asthma and COPD attacks follow a similar pattern, and that different parts of the immune system work “excessively” in different people.
Prof. Mona Bafadhel said, “We see that inflammation follows different patterns, and we can follow a more ‘smart’ path for the right treatment at the right time in people.”
Benralizumab targets white blood cells called eosinophils, which can cause inflammation and damage to the lungs.
Eosinophils come into play in half of asthma attacks and in one-third of COPD cases.
If these attacks, which cause breathing problems, wheezing in the chest, coughing and shortness of breath, cannot be controlled with regular inhaler use, doctors resort to steroids.
The results of the study, which was conducted with the follow-up of 158 patients, were published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.
Accordingly, the treatment failure rate, which is 74 percent in steroid use, drops to 45 percent in the new treatment method.
It was found that patients who were given the new treatment method were hospitalized less, needed another treatment method less and had a lower mortality rate.
Prof. Bafadhel emphasized that asthma attacks are seen in a very high number of cases and said that the new treatment could bring great benefits to a large number of patients:
“This could be a turning point. There has been no change in our treatment for 50 years. It will be a revolutionary development in how we treat people when they get worse.”
Improvement in the symptoms and increase in the quality of life of patients who were given the new drug were also observed.
Alison Spooner, 55, is one of the patients taking the drug in the trial phase.
She has had asthma since childhood and has had three serious attacks in the last five years.
“It was getting worse, the breathing was quite frightening,” Spooner says. She says she felt a “serious change” after taking the new drug, and says she only continued using the inhaler because her doctors told her to continue:
“Unfortunately, no drug completely eliminates asthma, but this one comes closest. I think it’s a bit miraculous.”
Benralizumab is not yet widely available.
A more comprehensive trial is expected to begin in 2025. This will take two years.
The studies will also include a look at the cost of the drug, because such active ingredients are quite expensive.
Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, from the University of Oxford, says the study so far is “very promising” and that the fight against COPD is stuck in the 20th century.
However, COPD is among the most common causes of death worldwide.
Long-term use of steroids can lead to problems such as weight gain, diabetes and bone weakness.
Geoffrey Pointing, 77, who also took part in the study, said: “I didn’t have the same side effects with this drug as I did with steroids.”
“I couldn’t sleep the night I took steroids. I was able to sleep the first night with this drug. I was able to get on with my life without any problems.”
It is estimated that four people with asthma and 85 people with COPD die every day in the UK.
Dr Samantha Walker, from the Asthma + Lung UK charity, said the results were “fantastic news”:
“It is very good that a new treatment has been developed for asthma and COPD patients for the first time in 50 years.”