Despite developments in understanding the nature of asthma and developing new treatment procedures, a somber fact is that asthma incidence has increased by more than 30 percent since 1980. More alarming is that hospital admissions for asthma treatment have increased and deaths attributed to asthma have nearly doubled since 1976. Reasons for the unsettling trends are complex. Nearly 12 million Americans suffer from asthma. It is prevalent in children but affects people of all ages. For some, asthma is a minor nuisance, requiring occasional medication; for others it is an unrelenting struggle for breath. In addition, incidence and severity of chronic sinusitis has increased. A number of parallels and correlations occur between asthma and sinusitis with common denominators. Sinusitis incidence rises with age and is a problem for older Americans. In the U.S., hundreds of unproven yet applicable treatments rely on alternative medicine (AM) for asthma and sinusitis management. These rely on modalities including herbal medicine, ethnomedicine, nutrition, and homeopathy. UC Davis is uniquely positioned to study these issues and develop a national outreach program based on communication, evaluation, and clinical research. The investigators' network includes faculty at Bastyr University, Stanford University, and UCLA; their CME programs on allergy/asthma have included faculty from UC San Francisco and the University of Washington. A major west coast liaison of academic institutions is envisioned. The location provides a wealth of ethnic and cultural diversity as well as AM practitioners in the Sierra Foothills, Bay Area and Coastal regions of Northern California. This program relies on an international group of experts from a wide range of backgrounds and outstanding research facilities at UC Davis. It is proposed to rely heavily on emerging technology and telecommunications to support networking to accomplish the proposed missions. The primary goal is to develop a west coast Center and international resource to assist AM practitioners and researchers in identifying potential treatments and developing protocols to evaluate efficacy of unconventional medical practices using nutrition, ethnomedicine, and immunopharmacology for treatment of asthma. Other goals include bringing together AM practitioners with other scientific investigators for information exchange; educational forums; communicating with health professionals, students, undergraduates, and the general public regarding alternative approaches and research findings emanating from grants supported by the Center; and ultimately offering training for physicians and other healthcare workers in use of proven AM therapies to help them enter the mainstream of conventional practice. Asthma is an ideal disease in which to evaluate AM approaches to treatment. It negatively affects millions and death rates are increasing. Within a well-defined time frame it is proposed to validate, encourage and/or develop AM treatment possibilities.
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