Revolutionising asthma diagnosis in kids.
- Perth Children's Hospital Foundation
Revolutionising asthma diagnosis in kids.
- Perth Children's Hospital Foundation
Can a urine test revolutionise how we diagnose asthma in children? New research funded by PCHF is aiming to find out.
We’re thrilled to be supporting innovative research that could fundamentally change how asthma is diagnosed in preschoolers right around the world. The MAP-2 study aims to enable earlier detection and safer, more effective treatment of wheezing children, through a simple urine test.
The Challenge of Diagnosis.
Frequent wheezing is extremely common among pre-school aged children, affecting tens of thousands of young kids in Western Australia. Along with shortness of breath and coughing, wheezing can be a telltale sign of asthma. However, there’s currently no effective way to differentiate asthma from other conditions that cause recurrent wheeze in this age group. Around 70% of preschoolers will outgrow their wheezing, making accurate diagnosis crucial.
To tackle this challenge, researchers at Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) are teaming up with experts from Edith Cowan University. Led by Professor André Schultz, a dedicated Respiratory Physician at PCH, the MAP-2 study aims to improve and streamline the diagnostic process.
“Diagnosing children at a young age with asthma is exceptionally challenging. We often think it might be asthma, but we don’t know,” said Prof. Schultz.
“I’ve always wanted to study metabolomics for asthma. Metabolomics means the measurement of metabolites, which are the breakdown products of all the chemical processes going on in the body. So, blood flows through the lungs, which is where gas exchange takes place. The blood then gets filtered through the kidneys, and that produces urine. So, when we capture urine, it can give us a good reflection of what’s going on in the lung.
“The dream of the research is to have an accurate way to diagnose asthma and give kids the right diagnosis and the right treatment. If we can develop a urine test for asthma, it will be a world first. The beauty behind this research is that we can drill down and refine it further as time goes on, until we can get a really accurate test.”
A New Era in Testing.
The MAP-2 study, proudly funded by the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation with the generous support of Pilbara Minerals, represents a significant leap forward in respiratory care. By developing a non-invasive urine test, researchers hope to improve the accuracy of asthma diagnoses in preschool-aged children, potentially leading to earlier and more effective treatment.
Carrick Robinson, CEO of Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, said: “With the support of our generous donors, PCHF is dedicated to supporting innovative research that positively impacts the health and wellbeing of children in Western Australia and right around the world.
By funding world-leading studies like MAP-2, we are proud be supporting the research team at PCH to take crucial steps towards better diagnoses and treatments for asthma amongst some of our youngest patients.”
