Severe Fatigue in Uncontrolled Asthma: Contributing Factors and Impact of Rehabilitation.

Background: Fatigue is a major concern for patients with severe asthma.

Objective: This observational study aims to assess fatigue severity and associated factors, to explore the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation on fatigue, and to investigate which factors predict persistent severe fatigue.

Methods: Patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma referred for alpine altitude climate treatment (AACT) between 2007 and 2018 were systematically assessed before and after rehabilitation regarding clinical, inflammatory, functional, and psychological characteristics.

Effectiveness of antibacterial therapeutic clothing vs. nonantibacterial therapeutic clothing in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: a randomized controlled observer-blind pragmatic trial (ABC trial).

Background: Increased Staphylococcus aureus (SA) colonization is considered an important factor in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). Antibacterial therapeutic clothing aims to reduce SA colonization and AD inflammation; however, its role in the management of AD remains poorly understood.

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of antibacterial therapeutic clothing + standard topical treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe AD vs.

Long-Term Weight Changes After Starting Anti-IL-5/5Ra Biologics in Severe Asthma: The Role of Oral Corticosteroids.

Background: Many patients with severe asthma are overweight or obese, often attributed to unintentional weight gain as a side effect of oral corticosteroids (OCSs). Anti-IL-5/5Ra biologics significantly reduce OCS use, but their long-term effects on weight are unknown.

Objectives: To examine (1) weight change up to 2 years after anti-IL-5/5Ra initiation in subgroups on the basis of maintenance OCS use at start of treatment and (2) whether cumulative OCS exposure before or changes in OCS exposure during treatment are related to weight change.

Skin Distress Screening: Validation of an Efficient One-question Tool.

Skin diseases are often accompanied by physical, emotional and social problems, which may negatively impact health-related quality of life and result in skin-related distress. It is essential to identify patients with skin-related distress within the short time-window of an outpatient dermatological visit. Therefore the one-question screening tool, the Distress Thermometer adjusted for skin conditions, was validated in a cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Patients' and Health Care Providers' Perceptions on mHealth Use After High-Altitude Climate Therapy for Severe Asthma: Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Asthma is a common chronic disease with various clinical presentations. Although most patients are able to reach good asthma control, some patients are not able to reach sufficient asthma control following the regular treatment guidelines and could be referred to high-altitude climate therapy (HACT). HACT includes environmental trigger avoidance in the alpine climate with multidisciplinary clinical treatment.

Alpine altitude climate treatment for severe and uncontrolled asthma: An EAACI position paper.

Currently available European Alpine Altitude Climate Treatment (AACT) programs combine the physical characteristics of altitude with the avoidance of environmental triggers in the alpine climate and a personalized multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation approach. The reduced barometric pressure, oxygen pressure, and air density, the relatively low temperature and humidity, and the increased UV radiation at moderate altitude induce several physiological and immunological adaptation responses. The environmental characteristics of the alpine climate include reduced aeroallergens such as house dust mites (HDM), pollen, fungi, and less air pollution.

The Skin and Nose Microbiome and Its Association with Filaggrin Gene Mutations in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis.

Background: Interactions between the skin barrier, immune system, and microbiome underlie the development of atopic dermatitis (AD).

Objective: To investigate the skin and nasal microbiome in relation to filaggrin gene (FLG) mutations.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 77 children with difficult-to-treat AD.

The effectiveness of antibacterial therapeutic clothing based on silver or chitosan as compared with non-antibacterial therapeutic clothing in patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (ABC trial): study protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects 10 to 20% of children and between 2 and 15% of the adults in Western Europe. Since 2000, therapeutic clothing or functional textiles based on silver or chitosan as antibacterial agents were introduced for AD. These agents aim to reduce skin colonization with Staphylococcus (S.

Secondary and Tertiary Prevention: Medical Rehabilitation.

Allergies are a major public health burden, and targeted measures are required in terms of prevention and treatment. The most common allergic conditions encompass atopic dermatitis (AD), food allergy (FA), allergic asthma (AA), and allergic rhino-conjunctivitis (AR). Primary prevention aims at preventing the onset of allergic disease, before the disease process begins.

The influence of treatment in alpine and moderate maritime climate on the composition of the skin microbiome in patients with difficult to treat atopic dermatitis.

Background: The skin microbiome, characterized by an overgrowth of Staphylococcus aureus, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). Multidisciplinary treatment in alpine climate is known for its positive effect on disease severity in children with AD and can result in a different immune response compared with moderate maritime climate. However, the effect on the composition of the skin microbiome in AD is unknown.

Effects of shared medical appointments compared to individual appointments in children with atopic dermatitis: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) needs intensive treatment and has a negative impact on quality of life. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) showed to be effective in clinical outcomes of chronic diseases, but little is known about the effects on children and families.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of SMAs compared to individual appointments (IA) for children with AD and their parents on coping and clinical outcomes.

Fecal Microbiome and Food Allergy in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

Background: Exposure to microbes may be important in the development of atopic disease. Atopic diseases have been associated with specific characteristics of the intestinal microbiome. The link between intestinal microbiota and food allergy has rarely been studied, and the gold standard for diagnosing food allergy (double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge [DBPCFC]) has seldom been used.

Comparing high altitude treatment with current best care in Dutch children with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (and asthma): study protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (DAVOS trial).

Background: About 10 to 20% of children in West European countries have atopic dermatitis (AD), often as part of the atopic syndrome. The full atopic syndrome also consists of allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis and food allergy. Treatment approaches for atopic dermatitis and asthma include intermittent anti-inflammatory therapy with corticosteroids, health education and self-management training.

Health status measurement in patients with severe asthma.

Background: Patients with severe asthma experience problems in different areas of their health status. Identification of these areas will provide insight in the patients needs and perhaps what determines the burden of disease. The Nijmegen Clinical Screening Instrument (NCSI) was recently developed for use in clinical practice in patients with COPD and provides a detailed picture of the patients' physiological functioning, symptoms, functional impairment, and Quality of Life.

High-altitude treatment in atopic and nonatopic patients with severe asthma.

The beneficial effects of high-altitude treatment in asthma have been attributed to allergen avoidance. Recent evidence shows that this treatment also improves airway inflammation in nonallergic patients. We hypothesised that high-altitude treatment is clinically equally effective in patients with severe refractory asthma, with or without allergic sensitisation.

Pesticide exposure and respiratory health of indigenous women in Costa Rica.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2007 to evaluate the relation between pesticide exposure and respiratory health in a population of indigenous women in Costa Rica. Exposed women (n = 69) all worked at plantain plantations. Unexposed women (n = 58) worked at organic banana plantations or other locations without pesticide exposure.