New study could pave way for lung treatments

A new study, which academics claim is the largest and most diverse of its kind, could pave the way for potential lung disease treatments

The international study, led by universities in Nottingham and Leicester, linked over 500 new genes to lung function for the first time, analysing genome data from 580,869 participants worldwide.

Scientists say it has built the best picture yet of how our genes affect our lung health.

Those behind the study said it represented a huge boost to scientists as they sought to understand which medicines may help improve lung health, and also which medicines might make lung health worse.

They said the findings could pave the way for potential new treatments to tackle conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and highlight existing drugs that could potentially be repurposed at speed.

Professor Martin Tobin, principal investigator, from the University of Leicester’s department of population health services, said “This is a big leap in terms of the size and the ethnic diversity of the populations that we’ve been able to study before and it’s a huge step in the number of associated genetic variants that we’ve discovered.

“Our genetic research findings can be used to generate individual risk scores that could personalise medicine.

“At this stage the risk scores we developed form important tools for further research, but in the future these could help to select which drugs might be most effective for individual patients and which drugs should be avoided.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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