Two allergy doctors in New York are currently conducting a study to determine if a device commonly used to help alleviate symptoms of emphysema and other serious respiratory diseases could have a similar effect on asthma patients, reports News 4 Buffalo.
According to the source, the Lung Flute — which was invented in Buffalo — is a lung-clearing device that people use to eliminate mucus from their airways. Patients are instructed to blow into the device with about the force they would use to blow out a candle on a birthday cake, and the low-frequency sound waves they produce vibrate into their lungs and help break up mucus.
"Some people do produce more bronchorrhea or mucus in their airways, and we would like to know if this is helpful for all patients or a subset of patients that have asthma," Dr. James Cumella of Advanced Allergy and Asthma Care of Western New York told the news outlet. "At the present time, we don't know that this is beneficial or not for asthma, and we're hoping that [this study] will give us some information about that."
If you live in upstate New York and are interested in participating in this study or simply learning more about it, you can contact the Buffalo General Medical Center at 716-859-2985 or Advanced Allergy and Asthma Care at 716-633-5277.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics reveal that 8.2 percent of adults in the United States suffer from asthma. If you're one of them, consider purchasing asthma and allergy control products from the Allergy Be Gone website, such as hypoallergenic bedding or an allergen air purifier.
