A new research has tracked down the proteins in our body that naturally protect us against asthma, the allergic disease of respiratory airways. The new study can be seen as a breakthrough, as it offers high hopes of better treatment for asthmatics and for far more improved ways to prevent or cure even the most extreme asthma attacks.

The study was carried out by a team of experts from the Imperial College and the Medical Research Council Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma. Their report is due to be published in the Nature Medicine Journal.

UK researchers state they have "unlocked" the mechanism of asthma and found out why asthmatics who get to suffer from common, mild stage colds may sometimes end up in hospitals, in the Emergency room. This happens because asthmatics' lungs do not produce enough anti-viral proteins to fight against colds. The proteins are called interferons, are produced by the immune system and protect healthy people against viruses, while their levels are rather low in individuals who already suffer from asthma.

Scholar Sebastian Johnston of Imperial College London who led the research explains: "When a normal person gets a common cold virus they get a common cold and a little bit of a cough but nothing else happening in the lungs, whereas an asthmatic may end up in hospital."

"People with asthma are particularly susceptible to rhinoviruses - which are the major cause of severe asthma attacks. When we tested volunteers with and without asthma we found these new interferons, which would tackle the infection, were not being produced as effectively in people with asthma. The interferons are directly protecting you against infection. They're deficient in people with asthma," Professor Johnston added.

Therefore, boosting interferons levels in the lungs of asthma sufferers would be the most appropriate solution for preventing and even treating asthma attacks. "The discovery of this mechanism could be of huge importance in how we treat asthma attacks. Delivery of the deficient interferons by inhalers could be an ideal way to treat and prevent severe attacks of asthma, potentially vastly improving the quality of life for many asthma patients," concluded the team of researchers.