Japanese definition of bronchial asthma and studies of factors to become severe.

1987 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 61304073
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Co-operative Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Respiratory organ internal medicine
• Research Institution: University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: MIYAMOTO Terumasa University of Tokyo, School of Medicine, 医学部(病), 教授 (80010239)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TAKAHASHI Terumi Showa Medical College, 内科, 教授 (30053771) ; MAKINO Soohei Dokkyo Medical College, アレルギー内科, 教授 (10049140) ; KOBAYASHI Setsuo University of Gunma, School of Medicine, 医学部, 教授 (40008222) ; TAKISHIMA Tamotsu University of Toohoku, School of Medicine, 医学部, 教授 (20004765) ; TAMURA Masashi Iwata Medical College, 内科, 教授 (60095817)
• Project Period (FY): 1986 – 1987
• Keywords: Asthma / Definition of Asthma / Aggravation factor of Asthma

Research Abstract

Japanese defintion of bronchial asthma has been made being based upon the recent studies and ideas in bronchial asthma. International definition of asthema of Chiba Foundation Guast Symposium in 1958 and American Thoracic Society Diagnostic Standards Committee in 1962 was also referred. Our definition is "Asthma is a disease characterized by an increased responsiveness of the airway to a variety of stimuli and manifested by repeated dyspnea due to widespread narrowing of the airway, which changes in severity over short periods of time either spontaneously or as a result of therapy, and is not due to pulmonary - cardiovascular diseases with similar symptoms" It may take sometime before this definition is widely accepted in Japan.
Asthma become quite severe in some cases. Such cases were characterized by 1)strong hereditary predisposition, 2)onset of asthma is below age of one, 3)onset of asthma is over age 45, 4)strong atopic predisposition, 5)non-atopic infections type, 6)negative skin test, 7)sensitive to aspirin, 8)increased hyperreactivity of airway to various stimuli, 9)complicated with chronic veonchitis, empyema and chronic ainusitis,etc. Serum total IgE, IgE antibody, IgG1 antibodyand IgG4 antibody did not have close relation to the severity of asthma. Importance of virus infection and immune complexes is under the study.