In at least 7-8% cases out of all asthma patients, the symptoms do not improve despite strong medications.
Such patients have a new hope. A novel therapy that involves mildly heating the walls of the windpipe using radio-frequency heat waves treat the condition without the side-effects associated with steroids usually prescribed to such patients.
It has been in use in the West for a few years, and in India some chest physicians are now making use of it to treat severe asthma patients.
In India, there are nearly 18-20 million people suffering from asthma. The airways in such patients are narrower than normal, which makes it difficult for the air to pass freely through them. This leads to feeling of breathlessness or chest tightness. Broncho dilators are the first line of treatment, followed by inhalers. But when both fail to relieve symptoms, oral steroids have to be given which has known side-effects. BT therapy is a newer option, say experts.
Read more of this encouraging breakthrough in a report by Durgesh Nandan Jha published in The Times of India....
