YAKIMA, Wash.-- Yakima Memorial Hospital has a new way to treat severe asthma in patients, and they're the first hospital on the east side of the state to offer the treatment.
Doctors say asthma patients have thicker-than-usual muscles around airways in the lungs which means less air is let through.
The new treatment puts a scope down into the airways and pumps low energy radio waves into the muscles, making them thinner. It's not a cure but it can help patients with severe cases live better.
"Your quality of life... It's a huge impact for the quality of life. So if you couldn't, you know, get up the stairs before to chase after your kids... It's a leisure to do it now, post procedure," says Memorial Respiratory Care Services Director Brian Weihs.
Memorial says they haven't used this treatment yet because patients have to go through a long evaluation process before they're eligible.
