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Scientists have developed the first non-drug therapy for asthma in the biggest advance in treatment of the condition for a decade.
Researchers who treated patients with moderate to severe asthma by inserting a probe into their lungs and "burning" the muscle tissue found it cut their asthma attacks by a half.
No drug treatment developed in the past 10 years has achieved an equivalent improvement.
The scientists described the results as "very encouraging" and said the treatment offered a "new option" for patients whose condition was poorly controlled by drugs.
More than five million patients in Britain suffer from asthma and around 70,000 are admitted to hospital each year with life-threatening attacks.
If proved in further studies, the new treatment, called bronchial thermoplasty, could help reduce the 1000 deaths from asthma a year.
Professor Paul Corris, of the University of Newcastle, co-author of the study, said asthma sufferers had "much twitchier airways" than normal and, by partly destroying the muscle in the tiniest airways, which constrict during an attack, the breathlessness could be prevented.
The treatment involves inserting a probe into the lungs under anaesthetic and heating the tissue in the narrow bronchioles, the smallest airways, to destroy the smooth muscle.
Three treatments of 20 minutes each, spaced a week apart, were all that patients needed.
During a follow-up period of one year, the treated patients suffered half as many asthma attacks, spent fewer days suffering from wheeze and breathlessness and rated their quality of life as significantly improved.
The treatment was carried out on 112 patients aged 18 to 65 in four countries and the improvement in symptoms was still seen a year later.
The results are reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Professor Corris said yesterday: "This was a highly significant effect. These people were already on high doses of drugs to control their asthma. It has to be seen as the first non-drug therapy for asthma that is showing promising results. No other drug therapy has had this effect."
He added: "The fact that the improvement is still being seen a year later - and in some of our patients up to two years later - is encouraging. It does mean the treatment could have practical application."
Professor Corris said he had been "extremely sceptical" about the treatment when he first heard of it, which was suggested by an emergency physician in Canada.
"It is not clear to me where he got the idea from, but the initial experiments were promising and we kept an open mind. We were glad we did."
A placebo-controlled study of the treatment, in which half the patients will be given sham treatment involving insertion of the probe into their lungs but without burning of the muscle, is under way.
The charity Asthma UK welcomed the findings.
Victoria King, the research development manager, said: "We have been watching with interest several studies of bronchial thermoplasty.
"As this is an innovative technique, we would welcome further research into the long-term effects and benefits. Results from these studies enhance our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for asthma and might extend treatment options in future."
- INDEPENDENT
