7 April 2005
Plan of attack
A better understanding of the of the physiological changes that occur during an asthma attack could have implications for the treatment of asthma, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in children throughout the world. A new study shows that during an attack, any obstruction in the larger passageway of the lung can trigger a devastating effect in rest of the airway tree. Venegas et al. used positron emission tomography images of lungs to track lung ventilation patterns in asthmatic patients. Self-organizing clusters of restricted passages reduced the airflow to smaller branches, making them more susceptible to collapse. These findings might help to explain why inhaled asthma drugs are not always effective.
Self-organized patchiness in asthma as a prelude to catastrophic shifts
JOSE G. VENEGAS et al.
Nature 434, 777–782 (2005); doi:10.1038/nature03490
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