More defense in the asthma war

<p>With the summer weather so unbelievably pleasant in the Lehigh Valley in recent weeks, it&#39;s been easy to forget how difficult it is for some folks to breathe around here.</p> <p>The good news for them is that they just got new help in their war against asthma. <a class="asset-img-link" href="http://blogs.mcall.com/.a/6a00d8341c4fe353ef01b7c6d00d39970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Asthma" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341c4fe353ef01b7c6d00d39970b img-responsive" src="http://blogs.mcall.com/.a/6a00d8341c4fe353ef01b7c6d00d39970b-320wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Asthma" /></a></p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week gave marketing approval to GlaxoSmithKline&#39;s Arnuity Ellipta, an inhaled corticosteroid medicine designed to be taken a once a day by asthma patients 12 years of age and older. It&#39;s not for someone having an acute asthma attack, however. <a href="http://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/2014/gsk-receives-fda-approval-for-arnuity-ellipta-fluticasone-furoate-in-the-usa-for-the-treatment-of-asthma/" target="_self" title="GSK">Here </a>is the company&#39;s news release about it, including important information about possible side effects.</p> <p>(Photo from National Library of Medicine.)</p> <p>Asthma is no small matter. Here&#39;s what happens with asthma, according to the National Library of Medicine: &quot;If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and they may react strongly to things that you are allergic<a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/allergy.html" name="noreveal"></a> to or find irritating. When your airways react, they get narrower and your lungs get less air.&quot;</p> <p>That matters to locals because the Lehigh Valley&#39;s air quality was marked by relatively high levels of year-round and daily pollution and smoggy days from 2010-12, according to the most recent air quality report by the American Lung Association. Increases in ozone, or smog pollution, were particularly noticeable, it said.</p> <p>&#0160;</p> <p>&#0160;</p>