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New 'game-changer' treatment to help asthma attacks
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Researchers say they've found the first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years.
A team at King's College London have called it a "game-changer".
The injection, called benralizumab, targets a type of white blood cell that can cause inflammation and damage in the lungs.
The medication is already used in the most severe cases, but the latest research suggests it could be used to help people in hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks each year.
Image source, Getty Images
What is asthma?
Asthma is a long-term condition - also known as a chronic condition - which affects the lungs and can make it hard to breathe.
It is the most common chronic condition among children.
Asthma can cause wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing.
For some people asthma can be mild, for others it is more severe.
Sometimes the condition can cause a person to have an asthma attack.
This happens when tubes carrying oxygen to lungs get narrow and inflamed, making it difficult to breathe.
Image source, Getty Images
How does the asthma drug help the body?
成人快手 News Health and Science Correspondent, James Gallagher, explained to Newsround how benralizumab works.
鈥淭he drug is like a precision missile. It targets just one bit of the human body - a part of our immune system that normally helps fight infection.
"But in asthma this type of white blood cell can go out of control. This upsets the lungs and airways making it hard to breathe. So the drug gets rid of these cells and calms everything down to stop the asthma attack."
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What did the results from the asthma study show?
The study, of 158 people, monitored asthma patients for three months after treatment for a flare-up.
People who were given the injection were less likely to be admitted to hospital or need another round of treatment.
Volunteers also said their symptoms had improved.
Researchers say the findings were made after discovering that not all asthma attacks are the same.
Prof Mona Bafadhel, from King's College London said: "Now we can see there are different patterns of inflammation, we can be smarter and get the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time".
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Can this drug be used to help treat children?
A larger trial will take place in 2025 to study the drug further, so it's not ready to be used on the public just yet.
Some other countries, like the United States, already allow children over the age of six to use the drug if nothing else works for their asthma.
But it's not known if the UK will allow the drug to be used for asthma attacks.
James Gallagher said: "This is really new science and has been tried only in adults so far. It is going to take more testing to know for sure if it works the same in children."