Is smoking in asthma associated with elevated levels of corticosteroid resistant sputum cytokines-an exploratory study?
Cigarette smoking in asthma is associated with a corticosteroid insensitive increase in multiple airway cytokines. Distinct airway cytokine profiles are present in current smokers and never smokers with asthma and could provide an explanatory mechanism for the altered clinical behavior observed in smokers with asthma.
There was no reduction in the quality of discharge summaries following the introduction of the shorter stays in ED target and trends in quality improved. These findings deserve replication in other hospitals which may experience different challenges.