Current asthma tests can only detect one type of the lung disease, but an experimental nasal swab has demonstrated the ability to differentiate between various asthma types.
The disease, which affects nearly 30 million Americans, is often divided into two categories: T2-high asthma, caused by inflammation of the immune system cell T helper 2, and T2-low asthma, which encompasses all other forms. T2-low asthma includes two subtypes, but tests cannot distinguish between these, according to NBC News.
In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Behavioral Sciences Research Institute in Puerto Rico, sequencing RNA from nasal swabs effectively diagnosed several asthma subtypes.
The researchers tested the nasal swab among 459 Puerto Rican and non-Hispanic Black children and teens, finding that T-2 low asthma was more common than T2-high asthma.
Before the test can be used in physicians' offices, additional research and FDA approval are required, NBC News reported Jan. 2.