U-BIOPRED is a European Union consortium of 20 academic institutions, 11 pharmaceutical companies and six patient organisations with the objective of improving the understanding of asthma disease mechanisms using a systems biology approach.This cross-sectional assessment of adults with severe asthma, mild/moderate asthma and healthy controls from 11 European countries consisted of analyses of patient-reported outcomes, lung function, blood and airway inflammatory measurements.Patients with severe asthma (nonsmokers, n=311; smokers/ex-smokers, n=110) had more symptoms and exacerbations compared to patients with mild/moderate disease (n=88) (2.5 exacerbations versus 0.4 in the preceding 12 months; p<0.001), with worse quality of life, and higher levels of anxiety and depression. They also had a higher incidence of nasal polyps and gastro-oesophageal reflux with lower lung function. Sputum eosinophil count was higher in severe asthma compared to mild/moderate asthma (median count 2.99% versus 1.05%; p=0.004) despite treatment with higher doses of inhaled and/or oral corticosteroids.Consistent with other severe asthma cohorts, U-BIOPRED is characterised by poor symptom control, increased comorbidity and airway inflammation, despite high levels of treatment. It is well suited to identify asthma phenotypes using the array of "omic" datasets that are at the core of this systems medicine approach. @ERSpublications Severe asthma results in more airway inflammation, worse symptoms and lower lung function, despite increased therapy http://ow.ly/QznR3

Clustering based on clinicophysiologic parameters yielded 4 stable and reproducible clusters that associate with different pathobiological pathways.

No abstract

An increased prevalence of asthma in cross-country skiers has been reported previously. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the prevalence of asthma among young, elite cross-country skiers in Trøndelag, Norway and Jämtland, Sweden. These two regions in central Scandinavia have different climates during the winter season, with a coastal type in Trøndelag while Jämtland is characterized by a colder, drier, inland type of climate. The study population consisted of 171 skiers (118 from Norway, 53 from Sweden). The investigation included an asthma questionnaire, spirometry and methacholine provocation testing. The prevalence of self-reported asthma-related symptoms was 46% in Norway and 51% in Sweden. The prevalence of bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) was significantly different between the two regions. In Norway, 14% of the skiers were hyper-responsive to methacholine compared to 43% in Sweden (P < 0.001). Moreover, the estimated prevalence of clinically diagnosed asthma was 12% in Norway and 42% in Sweden (P < 0.001). The self-reported frequency of respiratory allergy was higher in Sweden (32%) than in Norway (11%). However, on an individual basis, self-reported allergy did not predict occurrence of asthma or BHR. In conclusion, there is a high prevalence of BHR and asthma among young, elite cross-country skiers in central Scandinavia, especially in Sweden. Cross-country skiing may be a risk factor for the development of asthma. Longitudinal studies of cross-country skiers, and studies to acquire further knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the development of asthma are indicated.

Background -The prevalence of asthma and the use of asthma drugs is increasing worldwide. Studies of the incidence of asthma are few but are of interest in finding factors associated with onset of the disease. A study was performed to estimate the incidence of asthma and its relation to sex and to tobacco smoking between the ages of 16 and 19 years, and to compare the incidence of asthma with the proportion of individuals receiving a prescription ofan asthma drug for the first time during one year. Methods -A questionnaire was sent in 1990 to all 3627 individuals born in 1974 living in the county of Jamtland and Gast-