Asthma – Management

Transcript

So what are the basics of asthma management? Asthma is a chronic lung disease affecting 300 million people worldwide, characterized by reversible airflow obstruction, airway hyper-reactivity and airway inflammation. The reversible nature of the disease leads to periods where patients feel healthy and periods where symptoms increase in severity. The goal of asthma management is to use a combination of lifestyle interventions, inhaler medications, to minimize pulmonary symptoms and reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations to preserve lung function over time and improve quality of life. Asthma is managed by both general internists and family medicine physicians, allergists, and also pulmonologists. When symptoms are moderate to severe and the frequency of asthma exacerbations increase, it is recommended to get a pulmonary specialist involved. Further workup in patients with difficult to control asthma, identify patients who may benefit from biological therapies, which we will discuss later in the video.