Treatment
General Approach for Treating and Managing Asthma
While medications play an essential role in the management of asthma, appropriate management of asthma involves much more:
- Identifying and avoiding allergens and other asthma triggers
- Following appropriate drug treatments
- Home monitoring performed by either patient or family
- Good communication between doctor and patient
- Needed psychosocial support
- Treatment of asthma in all environments (school, work, exercise)
The severity of asthma is classified into four groups: Intermittent, Mild Persistent, Moderate Persistent, and Severe Persistent. Six specific components of severity are used to classify patients. These components are:
- Symptom frequency, ranging from fewer than 2 days per week to throughout the day
- Nighttime awakenings, ranging from none to nightly
- Short-acting beta2-agonist used for symptom control, ranging from 2 or fewer days per week to several times per day
- Interference with normal activity, ranging from none to extremely limited
- Lung function as measured by FEV1 and FEV1/FVC, measured with pulmonary function testing at the doctor's office
- Number of exacerbations (sudden worsening) requiring oral corticosteroids, ranging from none to two or more in the last 6 months.
Once patients are placed into a certain severity grouping, there is a recommended treatment approach, which also takes into consideration three age groupings:
- 4 years old or younger
- 5 - 11 years old
- 12 years or older
Previous Section
Review Date: 05/03/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical
School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
