Care of Patients with Asthma

Barbara Stilwell, Richard Hobbs

in Nursing in General Practice

Most asthmatics, probably as many as 95%, should be managed in the community. The potential workload for a general practitioner is considerable: a doctor with 2500 patients will have approximately 125 current asthmatics. The challenge of good asthma care lies in the correct diagnosis, treatment and management, as well as patient education and planned follow-up. In asthma the airways narrow, resulting in airways obstruction.

Diagnosis of Asthma

George A D’Souza

in Clinical Allergy and Asthma Management in Adolescents and Young Adults

The diagnosis of asthma is based on the presence of respiratory symptoms suggestive of asthma, demonstration of airflow limitation, and demonstration of variable airflow with or without treatment. Evidence of airway inflammation substantiates the diagnosis and may also help in management. It is imperative that a positive diagnosis of asthma be made at some stage in the course of a patient’s illness, preferably early on, to avoid significant overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis with its attendant consequences. Further, it is useful to revisit the diagnosis in every stable patient so as to be able to scale down or stop the treatment while continuing to monitor.

Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma-COPD overlap among US working adults

Published in Journal of Asthma June 2022

Asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) is a respiratory condition with more severe respiratory symptoms, poorer quality of life, and increased hospital admissions compared with asthma or COPD alone.

Management of Uncontrolled Asthma: A Framework for Novel and Legacy Biologic Treatments

Published in Journal of Asthma and Allergy 2022

Asthma continues to be a complex respiratory disease to control for many despite optimal standard inhaler therapy. The increased dependence on steroid-sparing biologic treatments in the 21st century has created a dilemma between identifying the patient’s intrinsic biomarkers and their “life markers.” With Tezepelumab being the most recent FDA-approved biologic for asthma, it is even more critical for asthma specialists to better understand and establish a framework to determine which biologic would work best for their patients.