Asthma attacks predicted

Doctors will in future be able to predict when asthma sufferers can expect a severe attack, thanks to two South Island researchers.

An international research project, involving researchers from Canterbury and Otago, developed a mathematical equation that can foretell which asthmatics are likely to have serious attacks in the next few months and when they are likely to occur.

The study also proved that overuse of short-term relief medication, such as ventolin or salamol, made asthmatics more prone to severe attacks.

The former Dean of Canterbury University School of Medicine, Dr Ian Town, and an Otago University researcher, Professor Robin Taylor, provided data from 80 New Zealand asthmatics.

Professor Taylor said the study was significant because it was the first time mathematics had been used to predict medical conditions. Details are put into a computer program which doctors use to help asthmatics anticipate their next serious attack. It could also be applied to other chronic diseases.

- NZPA