Chronic asthma could be caused by cell overcrowding in the airways
Treatments have targeted the symptoms of the lung disease, not the cause
![Two side-by-side images of a mouse's airway. In the one on the left, a ring of greenish tissue surrounds a black space, indicating the airway is open. On the right, that black area is filled with a chaotic mass of that tissue (now appearing greenish yellow), showing how the cells lining the area can clog the airway and make it harder to breathe.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/050224_mb_asthma-mechanism_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
These images show how an asthma attack can affect the airways. In the left image, mouse epithelial tissue (greenish-yellow) lining the lung is fully open but collapses (right) once treated with a drug known to narrow the airways. The constriction can lead to the tissue jettisoning epithelial cells, new research shows.
Dustin Bagley