Health Zone: Asthma could be cured within five years after drug breakthrough

Asthma could be cured within five years after scientists discovered what causes the condition and how to switch it off.
Researchers at Cardiff University and Kings College London identified which cells cause airways to narrow – causing coughing, chest tightness and breathlessness – when triggered by irritants.
Because drugs which can deactivate those cells, or calcilytics, are already in existence and used to treat osteoporosis, scientists hope that within five years doctors will be able to administer treatment directly into the lungs of patients, stopping asthma from happening in the first place.

‘Our findings are incredibly exciting,’ Professor Daniela Riccardi, of Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences, told the Telegraph.
‘If we can prove that calcilytics are safe when administered directly to the lung in people, then in five years we could be in a position to treat patients and potentially stop asthma from happening in the first place.’
Dr. Samantha Walker, Director of Research and Policy at Asthma UK, told the Telegraph the discovery could be life-changing for ‘hundreds of thousands of people’.