http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The fact that excess weight during pregnancy has negative consequences is not new information. A new study now concludes that the children of mothers obese before falling pregnant are four times more likely to have frequent wheezing, which is one of the symptoms of asthma, compared to the children of mothers weighing a normal weight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-maternal-obesity-frequent-wheezing-offspring.html Pediatrics Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:29:27 EST news281964556 That kale and bitter melon you are eating may someday save your life. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have taken a step forward in understanding how the substances that give some foods their bitter flavor also act to reverse the contraction of airway cells, a process known as bronchodilation. This effect may one day be harnessed to provide improved treatments for airway obstructive diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The findings were published on March 5 in the open access journal PLOS Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-scientists-mechanisms-airways-bitter-substances.html Medical research Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:00:10 EST news281712795 The introduction of smoke-free legislation in England was immediately followed by a fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with asthma symptoms, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-smoke-free-law-linked-decrease-child.html Pediatrics Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:02 EST news277979803 A new study that identifies ways to reduce the factors that lead to an asthma attack gives hope to asthma sufferers. A UCSF researcher and his colleagues believe they have found a way to help asthma sufferers by impeding the two most significant biological responses that lead to an asthma attack. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-physiological-factors-asthma.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:36:39 EST news267118573 Children with moderate or severe asthma attacks who are treated with systemic corticosteroids during the first 75 minutes of triage in the Emergency Department (ED) were 16% less likely to be admitted to hospital. This highlights the importance of adopting a strategy to rapidly identify and begin treating children with moderate or severe asthma attacks directly after triage, according to a team of investigators working at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center (UHC), the University of Montreal, McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-hospital-admissions-asthmatics.html Inflammatory disorders Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:02:34 EST news252756118 (Medical Xpress) -- Many pregnant women who suffer from asthma are putting their unborn child's health at risk by failing to use the right medication, according to a University of Adelaide researcher. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-pregnant-asthmatic-women-health.html Health Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:00:03 EST news248690269 A simple device that filters out airborne asthma triggers during sleep can ease persistent symptoms of the condition during the day and improve quality of life, suggests research published online in Thorax. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-simple-night-airflow-device-eases.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:10:44 EST news241330170 Researchers studying the first national quality measure for hospitalized children have found that no matter how strictly a health care institution followed the criteria, it had no actual impact on patient outcomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-key-quality-asthma.html Health Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:21:37 EST news236967674 Concern over vaccine safety is one of the primary factors preventing parents from having their asthmatic children vaccinated for influenza, or flu, according to Michigan researchers. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are also less likely to view flu as a"trigger" for their child's asthma, the researchers noted. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-parents-reluctance-vaccinate-asthmatic-kids.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 16 May 2011 16:59:50 EST news224783962 Mast cells, which can help the body respond to bacteria and pathogens, also apparently sound the alarm around viruses delivered by a mosquito bite, according to researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-cell-dengue-virus.html Medical research Mon, 16 May 2011 15:00:13 EST news224770099 Using sinus tissue removed during surgery at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have managed to grow a recently discovered species of human rhinovirus (HRV), the most frequent cause of the common cold, in culture. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-insights-gained-cold-causing-virus-sinus.html Medical research Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:06:30 EST news221659576