Allergy fungus research stepped up

Wednesday June 27th, 2012

A university is planning to step up research into allergies to fungus - backed with a major grant from local fund-raisers.

Researchers at Leicester University, UK, have been praised for developing "ground-breaking" techniques for monitoring and researching allergy risks.

The researchers are seeking to identify fungi spores in the air and make links to reactions in the body, including some evidence of fungi growing in the lungs of people with asthma.

The problem of fungal allergy is thought to affect a "significant" proportion of people with hay fever and asthma.

They have been granted some £340,000 by The Midlands Asthma and Allergy Research Association to pursue the research.

Dr Catherine Pashley, who runs the research group, said the opportunity to pursue the work was "amazing".

She said: "This funding means we will be able to continue our research which we hope will enable us to better understand what fungi people are breathing in, and which of these fungi are causing clinical complications.

"We hope to also begin new strands of research that will help us to better understand the mechanisms behind how the fungi are causing problems.

"A better understanding will hopefully allow us to advise people with allergies about living conditions and how to manage their allergies. In the long term there is the hope of treatments that will prevent the fungal allergies themselves rather than just treating the symptoms."

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Respiratory | UK News

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Comments

1At 03/07/2012 10:10pm Editor wrote

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