Asthma is the most common illness of children and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in adults worldwide. In these diseases, the airways can become inflamed and obstructed, and require drug treatments. Deciding on who to treat, when to treat, or how to adjust the dose of medications for those who are already prescribed drugs, can be difficult. There is a need for a better and more accessible test to measure inflammation that can help diagnose airway diseases and help adjust the amount of medicine needed to manage the disease.

In their project titled Improved Diagnosis of Lung Diseases Using Urine Tests, principle investigators Dr. Anas El-Aneed and Dr. Darryl Adamko from the University of Saskatchewan will be studying a new test that can be done easily in a doctor’s office that will help diagnose and better guide treatment for those living with asthma and COPD.

Hope for the Future

It is the hope of this team that this research will not only diagnose airway diseases better than available techniques but will also help guide decisions on adjusting the amount of medicine a patient needs.