According to a British study, itraconazole (an antifungal medicine) may prove helpful for those patients with sever asthma who are also sensitive to some fungi.

In this double blind study, the researchers from Manchester University found that in patients with asthma and sensitivity, itraconazole daily dose proved quite helpful to improve lung function, runny nose and life quality in 62% such patients.

But, the other patients who got that medicine left this 32-week trial before completion and some of them reported side effects like weakness of muscles, breathlessness and nausea.

These findings are expected to appear in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, January issue.

David Denning, the lead author of the study, says in this connection, “The study shows that in some asthma patients, fungal allergy is quite significant and in the patients who are difficult to treat, antifungal treatment can prove beneficial if it is tried. But it is quite obvious that itraconzale is not helpful for every patient. However, its effects are quite dramatic.”

“The findings may pave a new way to help severe asthma patients and also raise some interesting questions related to asthma and fungal allergy,” Denning added.