London, March 30 (IANS) British scientists have developed a non-drug
treatment for asthma, which they say may be a new option for patients
with severe symptoms despite use of drug therapies.

The heat therapy - which 'burns away' lung tissue blocking the airways
- is known as bronchial thermoplasty and scientists claimed it was the
first non-drug treatment for asthma, according to the Daily Mail.

The therapy developed by Professor Paul Corris of Newcastle University
and his colleagues from Manchester and Glasgow universities, and
Leicester University hospitals uses tiny probes on wires placed inside
the lungs, which emit radio waves. These waves reduce the lung tissue
thickened by asthma attacks.

The trial, reported in the latest issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine, involved 112 patients aged between 18 and 65 in four
countries, found those patients had around ten fewer asthma attacks
per year than those not given the treatment and were free of their
symptoms for an extra 86 days per year after treatment.

"These findings are very encouraging and consistent with earlier
results," Corris said. The therapy may be a new option for patients
with severe asthma who have symptoms despite use of drug therapies, he
said.

The technique targets muscle tissue lining air tubes, which are
sensitive to asthma triggers such as pollen and dust.

In many patients the muscle thickens because of repeated asthma
attacks, which narrows the airwaves and the muscle becomes even more
sensitive. The treatment aims to get rid of half of the thickened
muscle.

Doctors however warn the long-term risks of the technique remain
unknown and it cannot cure asthma.