During asthma flare-ups, a major symptom people experience is bronchoconstriction—when the muscles in the airway tighten and narrow, making breathing difficult. Now, new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has shown that this mechanical “squeezing” of the airway can trigger responses in the epithelial cells—those that line the airway—that make bronchoconstriction worsen and persist, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that may contribute to asthma progression.
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