The purpose of this study is to identify community resources and challenges in improving the health of community members with asthma. The primary goal of this project is to use Community-Based Participatory Research methodology to develop interventions aimed at improving asthma management in high-risk African American asthmatics. This "ground-up" longterm approach has never been tested before in asthmatics. The primary goal of this study will be accomplished with four specific aims: Aim 1. Conduct focus groups to identify barriers to asthma management in the target population. Aim 2. Use a community advisory board (CAB) consisting of participants selected from the various focus groups to gather information about solutions for the above barriers. Aim 3. Use the information from the CAB to develop an intervention to improve asthma self management behaviors in the target population. Aim 4. Refine the developed intervention based on feedback from focus groups conducted in Aim 1.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of IMA-026, an antibody to IL-13, on airway hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation in mild asthmatics. IMA-026 will be given as 2 injections under the skin 1 week apart at 2 mg/kg each dose. The study will include a screening period and a treatment period which includes doses on day 1 and day 8.

Study to determine the bronchodilatory effects of PF-04191834 compared with zileuton in patients with asthma

To determine whether or not high frequency chest wall oscillation (in the form of the VestTM) is superior to regular asthma therapy in the management of children hospitalized with moderate to severe asthma.

The main aim of the study is to develop a method that allows responders to be distinguished from non-responders before long-term treatment is initiated. Subsidiary aims are to record changes in pulmonary functional parameters, NO concentrations and peak flow variability, the use of beta2 sympathomimetics and the asthma symptom score.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, affecting up to 10 % of the general population in developed countries. Corticosteroids are necessary to control symptoms, but induce adverse events sometimes intolerable. In severe asthma, which represent 5 to 10% of global asthma, corticosteroids frequently fail to prevent severe exacerbations, leading to emergency care, hospitalization and sometimes death. The aim of this study is to identify predictive factors specific for exacerbation outcome which will lead to a minor increase in treatment in order to prevent exacerbations, while minimizing drug adverse effects.

We plan to use the Life Shirt to record tidal volume, respiratory rate and breathing pattern over a 6 hour period in patients admitted with difficult asthma. The Life Shirt will also be used to collect the same data over the same time period in a group of healthy controls. This data will then be correlated with the assessment of the supervising consultant as to whether the patient has any element of dysfunctional breathing contributing to their symptoms. It is hoped that the data obtained may in future be used to offer treatment to those patients with dysfunctional breathing.

Quality Improvement in Primary Care: delegation of check-ups to nurses in general practice

This study aims to document prospectively the incidence of allergies of eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitis in 2 diverse cohorts (Singaporean and Indonesian) with contrasting lifestyles and socioeconomic development. The profile of microbial colonization in terms of species variety, as well as their genetic diversity will be studied in Singapore and Indonesia cohorts and to correlate these with clinical allergy.

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of an anti-asthma herbal medicine intervention (ASHMI) in adult asthmatics