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If you or someone you love suffers from asthma, you know how frightening an asthma attack can be — gasping for breath, unable to get enough air.

Researchers want to know what causes inflammation in the lungs that leads to asthma and other diseases. A study is underway now at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute comparing lung cells from healthy people with those of people with asthma.

Anyone who is 75 years old or younger with asthma — from mild to severe — is eligible. Healthy volunteers are also welcome for this study.

Participating in the study “would help us generate new knowledge that would increase our understanding of the biology of asthma that may potentially facilitate the development of new treatments in the future,” said Dr. Stewart Levine, the study’s principal investigator.

The study requires two in-person visits to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. On the first visit, Levine’s team will screen patients and verify that they have asthma (or are a healthy volunteer). If they qualify, they would return for an overnight stay.

After participants are admitted to the Clinical Center, they’ll undergo a bronchoscopy with mild sedation. In a bronchoscopy, doctors collect lung samples with a pencil-thin tube. The procedure is safe but may trigger an urge to cough. Patients will be compensated for their time.

“We greatly appreciate people’s time,” Levine said. Many people enjoy their time at NIH so much that they sign up for multiple trials, he said. “People tend to like their experience here.”

With this study, Levine’s team may be able to pinpoint the causes of airway inflammation and discover ways to treat lung diseases like asthma, which affects more than 27 million Americans.

“I went into medicine to help people,” Levine said. “I can accomplish that goal on an individual level, when I take care of patients, and [through] research that allows me to generate knowledge that may help people more broadly.”

To learn more about this NIH study, #99-H-0076, or other studies, call 1-866-444-1132.