- Title: Scientist develop inhaler that protects lungs against air pollution
- Date: 30th September 2016
- Summary: WITTEN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR 'BITOP' BUILDING SIGN 'BITOP - EXTREMOLYES FOR LIFE' ARRIVAL OF CSO (CHIEF SALES OFFICER) OF 'BITOP', ANDREAS BILSTEIN, WITH VAPORISERS AND INHALERS BILSTEIN TAKES IMPLEMENTS FROM BOX BOX WITH INHALERS VARIOUS OF FERMENTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) CSO (CHIEF SALES OFFICER) OF 'BITOP', ANDREAS BILSTEIN, SAYING: "Our company is working with so-called extremolytes, which are small stress-protection molecules which are designed by nature for protection against different harmful stressers like heat, like salt, like acid in the nature. And we have developed different products including inhalation solution which can protect human lungs against the damage of, for example, pollution and fine particles." INHALER BEING FILLED CLOSE UP OF INHALER MOUTHPIECE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CSO (CHIEF SALES OFFICER) OF 'BITOP', ANDREAS BILSTEIN, SAYING: "You have to inhale once or twice a day and then if forms a so-called hydro, ectoine-hydro complex on the lung epithelium which protects against the damage by reducing the effects the pollution has onto the lungs and the lungs system. It reduces the inflammation in the lung and it protects from further damage, so you can use it either prophylactically or a therapeutic scheme, but we would suggest to do an inhalation per day." INHALER BLISTER CONTAINING PROTECTIVE MOLECULE SCIENTIST AT LAB SCIENTIST LOOKING THROUGH MICROSCOPE PICTURE OF MOLECULE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEIBNITZ INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE RESEARCHER, KLAUS UNFRIED, SAYING: "Particularly in the airwaves we have the problem that environmental particles induce inflammatory reactions which cannot be addressed correctly by the ... from the pharmaceuticals we have already in the market. And acting appears to address particularly this mechanism of inflammatory induction, and therefore I think we have a new and probably very important tool in our hand to have a therapeutic approach." VARIOUS OF SCIENTISTS IN LABORATORY
- Embargoed: 15th October 2016 12:11
- Keywords: inhaler lungs pollution
- Location: WITTEN, GERMANY
- City: WITTEN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA00151RD74R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German scientists have developed an inexpensive inhaler designed to protect lungs against air pollution and prevent diseases such as asthma or lung cancer.
The inhaler provides a natural molecule, ectione - originally found in bacteria in the Egyptian desert in the 1980s - which creates a stabilising protection layer on the surface of the lung cells.
"Our company is working with so-called extremolytes, which are small stress-protection molecules which are designed by nature for protection against different harmful stressers like heat, like salt, like acid in the nature," Chief Sales Officer at 'Bitop', Andreas Bilstein, told Reuters at the company's headquarters in Witten.
"You have to inhale once or twice a day and then if forms a so-called hydro, ectoine-hydro complex on the lung epithelium which protects against the damage by reducing the effects the pollution has onto the lungs and the lungs system," he explained.
"It reduces the inflammation in the lung and it protects from further damage, so you can use it either prophylactically or a therapeutic scheme, but we would suggest to do an inhalation per day," he added.
Klaus Unfried, researcher at the Leibnitz Institute for Environmental Medicine, said it could become a key therapeutic tool.
"Environmental particles induce inflammatory reactions which cannot be addressed correctly by the pharmaceuticals we have already in the market [...] Therefore I think we have a new and probably very important tool in our hand to have a therapeutic approach," he said.
The ectoine inhaler is ranked as a medical device, not a drug, which allows for official approval without large clinical trials. It has so far been tested in three small groups of patients at risk from air pollution due to asthma and bronchitis, but results are still to be published.
It is expected to be available in Germany and Poland over-the-counter in the coming months, at a cost of around 20 euros ($22 USD) per month.
An International Energy Agency (IEA) report released in June reported that 6.5 million people die every year due to poor air quality. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
