Fifteen million Americans have asthma. For some of them, medication isn't enough. The FDA is now looking at a new drug-free treatment that uses heat to open up patients' airways.
"At least once a month was bad enough to go to the emergency room, but I'd have asthma attacks two or three times a day. I was using my inhaler constantly," said Asthma sufferer Mike McLeland.
"It doesn't matter how many asthma attacks I've had in my lifetime, I still start to feel kind of panicky. What if I can't get to my inhaler in time? What if I can't get help in time?" said Jenny McLeland, Mike's wife and a fellow asthma sufferer.
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The couple was among the first to test a new treatment called bronchial thermoplasty that uses heat to alleviate asthma. Doctors send a catheter into the lungs. Wires deliver radiofrequency energy to the constricted muscles.
"This is a permanent treatment where we actually alter the smooth muscle. We decrease the muscle that's surrounding the windpipe, so it's a much more long-lasting treatment and effective treatment for these patients," said Dr. Mario Castro, pulmonologist at Washington University School of Medicine.
An international clinical trial showed an average 32 percent reduction in severe asthma symptoms. Jenny's cut her asthma meds by half. Mike doesn't need his at all.
Doctors sedate patients for the procedure and it's done in sets of three that take 45 minutes each. Symptoms can get worse before they get better. The heat treatment is intended only for patients with severe asthma.
Swedish medical center in Seattle participated in the trial. An FDA ruling is expected sometime this fall.
