Lung conditions & research
Researchers want to find the treatments and therapies of the future to help people living with breathing conditions.
Respiratory diseases are the third most common cause of death and the second most common cause of hospital admissions in the UK, yet effective treatments are lacking. Researchers want to find ways to diagnose conditions earlier and make treatment more targeted for individuals.
Research taking place in Manchester includes:
Asthma, allergies and the body clock
Research from Manchester shows that the time of day that you come into contact with an allergen determines how you respond to it. A study is investigating the best time of day to take inhalers to treat asthma.
Asthma: What's in a breath?
Every time you breathe out you release hundreds of different chemicals into the air. The chemicals are picked up by the blood as it travels around your body. Research in Manchester is finding new ways to analyse these chemicals in order to diagnose illnesses.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD affects 1.2 million in the UK. People with the disease find it difficult to breathe because the airways in their lungs are narrower. Researchers in Manchester are trying to find out more about the early stages of the disease to help find new ways of diagnosing it earlier and even preventing it.
Respiratory Infections
The UK National Aspergillosis Centre is based at Wythenshawe Hospital's renowned North West Lung Centre.
Chronic Cough
Coughing is one of your body’s many defence mechanisms, which is activated in the brain when you breathe in an irritant, such as smoke or perfume. A chronic cough is a cough that lasts eight weeks or longer in adults, or four weeks in children.
Chronic cough affects around 12% of the UK population. If there is an underlying cause for your cough then it is possible to treat it with existing medicines and treatments. However, in 40% of cases, a person's chronic cough has no underlying cause.
Researchers in Manchester are scanning people's brains to better understand the links between the brain and the lungs that cause chronic cough in the hope of developing new and more personalised treatments.
If you are living with, or caring for someone living with, a breathing condition, you might find the British Lung Foundation website a useful source of information.
If you have a breathing condition, you can have a voice in research and help researchers by giving your opinions and views. Find out more about opportunities
If you are living with a breathing condition and are interested in having your say about research into these conditions then we would love to hear from you.
