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Diet Effects Asthma

Recent research has shown that eating fast food and using sugary drinks can interfere severely with the most common asthma inhaler, salbutamol.  Two abstracts, one from a study soon to be published and one under review, were presented at the annual meeting of the Thoracic Society of ANZ.  The first showed that asthmatics had a higher mean Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) than healthy controls, indicating diets were pro-inflammatory.  DII score was associated with lower lung function and increased systemic inflammation, it said.  “Hence, consumption of pro-inflammatory foods in the diet may contribute to worse asthma status.”

The second abstract showed that asthmatics who consumed a high fat meal, with a mixture of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) had a reduced bronchodilator response to salbutamol and that the transport of the drug was sensitive to alterations in the fatty acid environment.

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Source: pharmacydaily.com.au, Thursday 10 April 2014