• Question: Because I am asthmatic does that mean my lungs will react differently if you were to test them in the lab?

    Asked by megan to Natt on 22 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Natt Day

      Natt Day answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Hi Megan,

      Most likely, yes. Lots of research has shown that lung cells from asthmatics can grow differently to healthy cells (they may grow slower, they may have less ciliated/’hairy’ cells or they may not grow into as tight a layer) and they also react differently to treatments (they’d can create more immune chemicals in response to harmless thinks like dust and pollen, they have less interferons in response to viruses).

      As with everything though– there’s a lot of variation between samples! We see a lot of variation in the responses of asthmatic cells depending on whether they are mild, moderate or severe asthma cells. We also have seen that some healthy cells react more like asthma cells– even if the person hasn’t been classified as asthmatic (that’s what my cells do!)

      Natt

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