Top Asthma Articles for May 2014

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles about asthma for March 2014:

Because no accurate screening tests (using genetic or single biochemical markers) have been developed yet to determine which young children with recurrent wheezing will have asthma at school age, our diagnosis should be based on clinical predictive scores. 3 scores predict asthma in children: Asthma Predictive Index (API), Isle Wight score, PIAMA risk score. Fortunately, only 30% of preschoolers with recurrent wheezing still have asthma at age 6 years. http://buff.ly/J6x58J

FeNO values are higher in individuals with rhinitis and/or atopy without other health problems http://buff.ly/19zhOrH

Readability of Asthma Web Sites: materials should be no higher than a sixth-grade reading level http://buff.ly/1a8v17U

Oral Health in Individuals With Asthma: A high incidence of xerostomia, acidic pH, and candidiasis was found http://buff.ly/JHBi3I

The circadian clock and asthma - "clock genes regulate peripheral lung clock and immune clock" - BMJ http://buff.ly/1a2ltOC

ICS/LABA study questions the recommendation of prescribing albuterol as the only treatment for EIB in mild asthma http://buff.ly/MkRlWE

Staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization is independently associated with adult-onset asthma http://buff.ly/1dIJwPZ

Frequent exacerbators - a distinct phenotype of severe asthma, risk factors: FeNO > 45 ppb, history of smoking http://buff.ly/1dIK2NI

Questionnaire (ICQ-S) to monitor inhaled corticosteroid side-effects http://buff.ly/1dIKhZd - ICQ-S is a brief, patient-friendly tool

Premature children (born before 37 weeks of gestation) were 46% more likely to develop asthma or wheezing http://buff.ly/1fdCnLL

ATS Guidelines for EIB: Diagnosis of EIB requires exercise PFT, and should not be made on the basis of clinical symptoms alone. What triggers EIB? It's not necessarily the temperature of the air; it's the humidity that really is a big deal. Pre-exercise albuterol is sufficient to control the symptoms of EIB in 80% of the cases. For athletes with EIB, ICS, LTRA, inhaled albuterol are permitted. However, oral steroids and albuterol are banned. VCD is very common in patients with exercise-induced respiratory symptoms (most common EIB alternative diagnosis) http://buff.ly/1fw3Yq1

The articles were selected from Twitter @Allergy and RSS subscriptions. Some of the top allergy accounts on Twitter contributed links. I appreciate the curation provided by @Aller_MD @AllergyNet @IgECPD @DrAnneEllis @AACMaven @AllergieVoeding @allergistmommy @mrathkopf @wheezemd.

Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to AllergyGoAway AT gmail DOT com and you will receive an acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.