The fundamental problem in asthma appears to be immunological: young children in the early stages of asthma show signs of excessive inflammation in their airways. Epidemiological findings give clues as to the pathogenesis: the incidence of asthma seems to be increasing worldwide, and asthma is now very much more common in affluent countries. In 1968 Andor Szentivanyi first described The Beta Adrenergic Theory of Asthma; in which blockage of the Beta-2 receptors of pulmonary smooth muscle cells causes asthma. Szentivanyi's Beta Adrenergic Theory is a citation classic using the Science Citation Index and has been cited more times than any other article in the history of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. In 1995 Szentivanyi and colleagues demonstrated that IgE blocks beta-2 receptors. Since overproduction of IgE is central to all atopic diseases, this was a watershed moment in the world of allergies.
Pathophysiology of asthma
Asthma-related microbes
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness
Airway resistance
Pathophysiology of acute respiratory distress syndrome
Lung cancer susceptibility
Allergic inflammation
Human skin color