Tastebuds In The Lungs?

New Findings May Mean Flavored Inhalers For Asthma Sufferers

Written by TeamDS
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Everyone knows our taste buds are in our mouths. Now it turns out they may be in our lungs too. Research has led to a new discovery that there are "taste receptors" in lungs that respond to bitter substances.

The lung taste buds don't act like taste buds in our mouths. We can't actually taste anything with our lungs, and curiously, when lungs do respond to taste, they don't send any kind of signal to the brain. In the study by the University of Maryland, the airways of mice were "treated with bitter substances, then exposed to allergens." And then the mice lungs do something very curious and unexpected; the air passageways don't protectively contract or close up. Instead they open wide, as if they had been influenced by a drug for asthma. In fact, according to a researcher quoted by the BBC, they "opened the airway more profoundly" than any current used drug.

And this is why the findings are so interesting-- they may bring new options to traditional drug treatments for those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. New treatments could use inhalers that have bitter substances in them "such as quinine or even saccharine, which has a bitter after-taste," for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Although the study is intriguing, and studies on mice can provide meaningful data, it's another step to see if human lungs react the same way. And this is the next step. And clearly it's an important step to take, as in many cases asthma drugs fail to effectively control the symptoms, leaving many millions of people suffering without recourse to what one day may be a simple and effective way open our airways.

Of course, in the research journey from mouse to human, other problems may arise that make the new treatment idea unfeasible. But this is exactly the kind of medical research that is worth supporting; something that if it works, may lead to kind of safer, more effective, and less expensive treatments that will allow millions of people to finally breathe a deep and happy sigh of relief.

Preventing Asthma Tip: There's a common drug in most of our medicine cabinets that can cause asthma or make it worse. If you have asthma attacks, you may wish to avoid using NSAIDS, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen.


For more asthma management tips, visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology.



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