Nine of the fourteen partners in Leibniz Health Technologies collaborate together as part of the "EXASENS" alliance project on the research of a point-of-care technology to predict and diagnose chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases. This alliance is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 6.25 million euros and makes a contribution to the expansion and support of the topic of health technologies.
Chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases represent a large portion of the diseases in industrial countries. In the EU, approximately 60 million citizens are affected by these diseases. The economic costs involved are estimated at 380 billion euros a year. According to the medical journal Pneumology, approximately 4.5 million citizens in Germany suffer from asthma and approximately 7.4 million suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This produces costs of approximately 25 billion euros a year.
Chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases represent a large portion of the diseases in industrial countries. In the EU, approximately 60 million citizens are affected by these diseases. The economic costs involved are estimated at 380 billion euros a year. According to the medical journal Pneumology, approximately 4.5 million citizens in Germany suffer from asthma and approximately 7.4 million suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This produces costs of approximately 25 billion euros a year.
The situation is critical for asthma and COPD patients when they have a sudden, acute exacerbation. Severe exacerbations can lead to respiratory failure and be life threatening. Early intervention reduces the necessity of intensive medical care and improves the prognosis. However, false admission to the hospital due to the suspicion of an exacerbation results in additional health care costs of approximately 250-500 million euros a year in Germany alone. This was the result of extrapolated costs from the Pneumology Clinic of the Research Center Borstel.