Press Releases

Supplementing inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with vitamin D does not reduce the rate of treatment failure in patients with asthma and vitamin D insufficiency, finds a new NIH-funded study. The Vitamin D Add-on Therapy Enhances Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Asthma (VIDA) trial randomized 408 adults with low vitamin D and mild/moderate asthma to receive the ICS ciclesonide supplemented with either high-dose vitamin D3 or placebo.

May is Asthma Awareness Month, and the National Institutes of Health emphasizes the scientific progress being made in asthma research, from basic science, such as how lung cells work, to clinical trials on current and future treatments for the disease. NIH-led research includes studies of environmental factors, how the body’s own defense system plays a role, and the microbiome — all the microbial organisms that live in and on the human body.

A drug that blocks the action of a key hormone did not significantly improve a set of cardiovascular outcomes for patients with diastolic heart failure, a condition in which the heart is stiffer than normal and has problems filling with blood, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health researchers have identified a biological pathway that contributes to the high rate of vein graft failure following bypass surgery. Using mouse models of bypass surgery, they showed that excess signaling via the Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-Beta) family causes the inner walls of the vein become too thick, slowing down or sometimes even blocking the blood flow that the graft was intended to restore.