UK tests asthma device for sleepers

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BRITISH doctors are trialling an air-cleaning device they say could help patients with severe asthma while they sleep.

THE temperature-controlled laminar airflow (TLA), which works by the bedside, filters out allergy particles, known as allergens, which can trigger attacks.

The aggravating particles increase at night when body heat and movement carry them from the bedding area to the breathing zone. But asthma specialists say that by removing the allergens, patients’ lungs and airways are able to rest in clean air. About 10 per cent of the 5.4 million people in the UK with asthma have the most severe form, which leaves them open to frequent attacks despite taking high-strength medicines. Study co-investigator Professor Peter Howarth, from Southampton General Hospital, says the TLA offers new hope to asthmatics. “While the majority of asthmatics are able to control their symptoms with medication, around one in 10 regularly experience life-threatening symptoms and attacks for which currently treatments are insufficient,” he said. “There is a desperate need for new and innovative treatment options for patients who suffer from severe asthma and this is an extremely exciting device which offers the hope of real progress for this vulnerable patient group.” The study will involve 222 adults, half of whom will be given a working TLA device and the other an inactive version.