New treatment may help half-million with asthma

WASHINGTON — The pollen starting to blanket the country means more than stuffy noses and runny eyes for millions of Americans: Allergies actually are the most common cause of asthma.

Yet many sufferers don't know that pollen or other allergens are triggering their asthma attacks, knowledge that could help them breathe easier. For people with particularly severe allergic asthma, a new drug that works differently from any other asthma medicine — though it is expensive and somewhat difficult to use — may help.

"It's amazing how many people do not think allergies" despite clear patterns of wheezing, says Dr. Stanley Goldstein of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

More than 17 million Americans have asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that causes recurring episodes of wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and difficulty breathing. Every year, asthma kills 5,000 people and is responsible for nearly 2 million emergency-room visits and half a million hospitalizations.

Rates of asthma have more than doubled since 1980. Doctors aren't sure why, but allergies are on the rise, too. While asthma attacks can be triggered by numerous things — exercise, cold air, stress, viruses — roughly 60 percent are triggered by allergens.

Indoor allergens, such as pet dander, dust mites or cockroach debris, put these people at risk year-round. However, the outdoor-allergy season brings an increase in asthma attacks, prompting the AAAAI and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America to try to raise awareness of the connection.

"The symptoms are the same — you cannot tell the difference" by symptoms alone, cautions Goldstein, who directs Allergy and Asthma Care of Long Island in New York. "The distinguishing factor is, if you know you have allergies, you can definitely do more to prevent the asthma."

But there is a new option for the estimated half a million people with severe allergic asthma not controlled by today's medicines: Called Xolair, it's the first anti-IgE treatment, able to cut asthma attacks by about a third by blocking the IgE-caused inflammation chain reaction.

It's expensive, between $5,000 and $10,000 a year. However, specialists say insurance companies are covering it without complaint for those who qualify, partly because of evidence that Xolair reduces hospitalizations and cuts patients' use of other medicines.