Inventor of Cromolyn sodium as a remedy for asthma
Roger Edward Collingwood Altounyan (1922–1987) was a Syrian-born Anglo-Armenian physician and pharmacologist who pioneered the use of sodium cromoglycate as a remedy for asthma. His family relocated to the United Kingdom where he studied medicine and started his pioneering research.
War service
Altounyan joined the Royal Air Force in 1941 and became a flying instructor. He was regarded as an « exceptional » instructor of bomber pilots and in 1943 he was appointed to the staff of a school for flying instructors. He was awarded the Air Force Cross for developing new techniques in night flying. His flying experience is said to be the inspiration for the « spinhaler », a propeller-driven device to deliver sodium cromoglycate deep into the lungs.
Cromolyn sodium was discovered in 1965 by Roger Altounyan, a pharmacologist who had asthma. It is considered a breakthrough drug in management of asthma, as the patients can be freed from steroids in many cases; however, it is mainly effective as a prophylaxis for allergic and exercise-induced asthma, not as a treatment for acute attacks. Altounyan was investigating certain plants and herbs which have bronchodilating properties. One such plant was khella (Ammi visnaga) which had been used as a muscle relaxant since ancient times in Egypt. Altounyan deliberately inhaled derivatives of the active ingredient khellin to determine if they could block his asthma attacks. After several years of trial he isolated an effective and safe asthma-preventing compound called cromolyn sodium.
