New drug hope to help asthma

A new class of drugs that could prove life-changing for sufferers of severe asthma and other debilitating lung diseases has been identified.

The discovery, by a team of international scientists led by the University of Glasgow, could provide new treatments for people who struggle to manage their conditions with existing medication.

Tests have shown the drugs, which work by activating a fatty acid, can reverse the symptoms of asthma in animals. Similar effects were seen when the drugs were applied to lung samples taken from human donors.

Researchers believe the combined findings suggest the drugs could provide new medicines for human inflammatory lung disease.

The experimental drugs work in a different way than currently prescribed medicines for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).