Asthma and Exhaled Nitric Oxide (eNO)
A Simple, New Breath Test to Help Manage Asthma
Asthma is characterized by airway
inflammation
When airways get inflamed, the inner walls of the airway swell,
so there is less space for a smooth flow of air. Inflammation of
the airways leads symptoms such as shortness of breath,
wheezing and coughing.
The primary focus of asthma treatment is to reduce
inflammation. Unfortunately, current methods of testing lung
function do not measure inflammation. Therefore, you have to
correlate symptoms to disease severity when prescribing or
adjusting medication.
Regular monitoring of eNO provides a more complete
picture of your asthma
Adding eNO tests to other standard clinical
measures gives you a better picture of
your patients’ airway inflammation. This
can help improve asthma control. By
regularly monitoring your eNO levels,
you can treat your patients’ asthma
more precisely.
Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) provides a new way to
measure inflammation
Inflamed airways produce nitric oxide which becomes part of your breath.
Exhaled nitric oxide has been studied well over the last 10 years. These
studies have shown a strong relation between eNO and airway inflammation.
Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) increases as inflammation increases, and it
decreases as inflammation decreases.
Simple breath tests are now available to measure eNO levels. Your patients
simply breathe out steadily into a breath tube that is connected to the test
device. The test itself takes just about 10 seconds. The results are available
within one minute.
As airway
inflammation increases,
eNO increases.
(Level of Exhaled Nitric Oxide)
low
high
higher
eNO
Time
Patient has high
inflammation
Inflammation drops
over time after
treatment is adjusted
By courtesy of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.,
copyright 2001; used with permission
Illustration of therapy showing a
reduction in inflammation by precise
adjustment of medication
Answers to frequently asked questions
Is eNO prescribed by specialists like pulmo