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First new asthma attack treatment in 50 years


Around two million asthma and COPD attacks each year could be treated with the drug, a study suggests.

The injection dampens part of the immune system that can go into overdrive in flare-ups of both asthma and a lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). If such an attack - involving difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and chest tightness - cannot be controlled with regular inhalers then doctors currently prescribe a course of steroids. But Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, from the University of Oxford, said the work so far "shows massive promise" and that treatment for COPD was "stuck in the 20th Century" despite being one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

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