Fungi Offer New Clues against Asthma

Published February 19, 2013

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219121216.htm

Summary

A study done by a team of researchers, led by Dr Hugo van Woerden from Cardiff University's Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, suggests a relationship between asthma and the presence of fungi in the lungs. For many years, it had been thought that lungs were sterile or free from microorganisms although this research and others prove differently. They found that although there are large numbers of fungi in the both healthy lungs and the lungs of asthma patients, the species of fungi are different. The researchers examined the mucus of both asthma patients and healthy individuals and found that there were about 136 different species, 90 more common in asthma patients and 46 more common in healthy lungs. Another previous study done by the same team found that removing fungi from the homes of asthma patients could help improve life for them. The knowledge of fungi in the lungs of asthma patients and the link between fungi and asthma could lead to more research and better treatments in the future.

Connection

This connects to our unit on microbes because the study involves different species of fungi found in human lungs. Also, they live inside our bodies just like other microorganisms we learned about such as E. coli.