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Substantial Amount of
Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits Result from
Intermittent Asthma Patients
PORTAGE, MI, March 7, 2006 – A study presented
today at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Academy
of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) found that patients
with intermittent asthma account for a substantial portion
(48 percent) of asthma-related visits to the emergency department
(ED).
“The number of asthma-related visits to the emergency
department could be reduced if patients knew their triggers
and minimized their exposure to those allergens that cause
asthma attacks,” said Leonard Fromer, MD, a family
physician with a clinical practice specialty in allergy and
asthma and assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of
Medicine. “Allergy diagnostic testing using a
Specific IgE blood test is crucial to identify these triggers
at the primary care level and manage patients effectively
to prevent more serious complications like asthma.”
Of the 20 million people who suffer from asthma, more than
half (11 million) do not have their asthma under control. Each
day, asthma patients are responsible for 5,000 emergency
department visits, which contribute to healthcare expenditures
for asthma estimated to be in excess of $6.2 billion.
This study evaluated pharmacy and diagnostic coding records
of 202 adults (ages 19 – 85) that were treated for
asthma in the emergency department between April and July
2002. Patients were stratified into asthma severity
categories of intermittent or persistent. Intermittent
asthma patients were defined as those who have had low usage
of asthma controller and reliever medications or less than
four asthma medication dispensings in the last year prior
to their ED visit.
“Knowledge gained from a Specific IgE diagnostic tool
like ImmunoCAP allows asthma patients to make necessary adjustments
to their environment to decrease their risk for asthma attacks
and subsequent hospitalizations,” said Dr. Fromer.
ImmunoCAP® Specific IgE blood test is the first allergy
test to be cleared by the FDA as a truly quantitative test
for pinpointing allergens. Allergy blood testing is
recognized by the National Institutes of Health for the management
of patients with asthma. The ImmunoCAP technology works
by measuring IgE antibodies to specific allergens in a small
sample of blood. Specific IgE is produced as a result
of sensitization to an allergen and increases with exposure
to that substance.
Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden,
is the world leader in in vitro IgE diagnostic research
and product development. Its U.S. affiliate is in Portage,
Michigan.
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