Hakan Gunen | PubMed Health

PubMed2003

Asthma, age, and early reversibility testing.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of age on early reversibility testing (ERT) in patients with asthma. Forty-nine nonsmokers with asthma were investigated. In all cases, disease duration was less than 15 years; the absolute change (absolute variability, AV) in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) on ERT was greater than 100 mL; and the increase in FEV1 on ERT was greater than 10%. Patients were categorized as group I (younger than 50 years; n = 24) and group II (50 years or older; n = 25). There were no significant differences between the groups regarding disease duration and severity. The mean patient ages in groups I and II were 40.3 +/- 7.9 years and 59.2 +/- 7.1 years, respectively, and the corresponding mean baseline FEV1 values were 62.2 +/- 23.7% and 67.4 +/- 21.1% of predicted value (p > 0.05). Pulmonary function tests were performed at baseline, and then repeated for ERT 20 minutes after inhalation of 200 microg salbutamol. After ERT, the respective findings for groups I and II were as follows: AV 412 +/- 184 mL and 247 +/- 138 mL; percentage change (PC) in FEV1 21.5 +/- 9.3% and 16.9 +/- 7.5%; and percent of predicted change (PPC) in FEV1 13.6 +/- 6.5% and 9.9 +/- 4.9%. The AV, PC, and PPC values for group I all were higher than the corresponding findings for group II, and the differences in AV and PPC were statistically significant (p = 0.001, p < 0.05). The study showed that elderly asthma patients exhibit significantly lower AV and PPC after ERT. To improve the accuracy of asthma diagnosis in elderly patients, limits of ERT should be redefined.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Proteolytic enzyme sensitivity and decrease in respiratory function (a 10-year follow-up).

OBJECTIVES: In workers, sensitivity and occupational asthma are known to develop in reaction to the proteolytic enzymes used in the manufacture of detergents. This study was conducted to find out how this sensitivity to the proteolytic enzymes affects respiratory function, excluding occupational asthma. METHODS: Workers in the detergent industry ( n = 65) were divided into four groups according to their prick-test results, as follows: those positive for at least one enzyme (Lipolase, Savinase) (group I, n = 15); enzyme-negative cases (group II, n = 50); and from among these, enzyme-positive non-smoking cases (group Ia, n = 11); enzyme-negative non-smoking cases (group IIa, n = 32). Respiratory function tests for the last 10 years from the archives were assessed. For statistic analysis, average values were determined and the standard deviation calculated. For comparison of the groups, the Mann-Whitney U and Fischer Exact chi-square tests were used. RESULTS: The ratio of smokers, the cigarette burden, average age and the period of work were found to be similar between workers of groups I and II, and group Ia and group IIa ( P > 0.05). The average annual fall in the forced vital capacity (FVC) and the forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV(1)) for the 10-year period was, respectively, found to be: group I, 64.1 +/- 7.8 ml and 58.7 +/- 9.6 ml; group II, 38.7 +/- 6.4 ml and 43.7 +/- 8.2 ml; group Ia, 60.7 +/- 8.1 ml and 56.1 +/- 10.2 ml; group IIa, 37.4 +/- 6.8 ml and 42.9 +/- 8.1 ml. The decrease in FVC and FEV(1) in group I compared with group II, and in group Ia compared with group IIa was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the observation that the FVC and FEV(1) of the workers were much lower than expected, especially among those sensitive to the enzymes, independently of occupational asthma and cigarette smoking, led to the conclusion that it could be due to sensitivity to the enzymes.

Adult↗