You don’t have to be psychic to predict your next asthma attack.
A handheld breath sensor from Siemens can warn about an oncoming
asthma attack up to 24 hours before even you realize something
is wrong. Right now, asthma-plagued patients are stuck with
expensive pulmonary tests if they want to know how close they
are to an attack. Most people just deal with an attack when it
happens by using a rescue medication. The new gadget—the size of
a cell phone—would mean people could take medicine to prevent an
attack. The new sensor works by detecting the level of nitrogen
monoxide (NO) on your breath. A spike in NO levels is a signal
of inflammation in your bronchial tubes; the higher the NO
level, the more severe the attack. It’s sensitive enough detect
levels of NO in your breath as low as 1 parts per billion—that’s
really sensitive, for those of you who aren’t professional
chemists. How could it help people with asthma? People could
take a drug only if they needed to prevent an attack. And those
who take asthma m