Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. William W. Busse, M.D. ... Gail Shapiro, M.D.. Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center. Seattle, WA. Stuart Stoloff, M.D.
Reviews the evidence for and against hundreds of preventive health services, recommending tests, and counseling interventions when evidence exists that it is effective.
A 6-month-old boy has a 1-week history of dry cough that worsens at night. He has been wheezing intermittently for the past month. A 2-year-old girl has had severe nighttime cough, congestion, and fever for 2 days. She recently recovered from a respiratory illness of 1 month's duration. Chest radiographs of both patients are shown… Read More
If your bedroom or other rooms in your home look a lot like the one here, you may be living in an asthma "nightmare"—an environment full of potential causes of asthma attacks. Many people with asthma have allergies that make their asthma worse… Read More
Patients with asthma may be reluctant to exercise for fear of triggering an attack. You can reassure them that adequate control can allow them to participate in almost any physical activity they wish. Recommendations from the NIH offer guidance on prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm… Read More
In the United States, asthma affects approximately 1.4 million children younger than 5 years and causes frequent activity limitations and hospitalizations. Unfortunately, a substantial number of children in this age-group have suboptimal asthma control, demonstrated by the higher rates of ER visits and hospitalizations in preschool-aged children than in older children … Read More
Amish school children have a lower prevalence of allergies and asthma, especially if they've had plenty of exposure to cows. A study of European farm families suggests the reason. More »
In many parts of the country—and for people of all ages—a turn of the calendar to the winter months means more time spent indoors. For patients with asthma, however, an evening spent in front of a crackling fire may simply serve as a trigger for an attack. More »
A team in Toronto has built a Wiki (think Wikipedia, but focused) where asthma patients and their doctors are custom-building a patient support tool. More »
Biotechnologists at Sweden's Karolinska Institute report they have figured out how to engineer a vaccine that will be more effective for the 10% of people who endure asthmatic reactions in the presence of cats, with fewer side effects. More »
In two parallel pragmatic equivalence trials, leukotriene receptor antagonists as initial therapy for asthma compared with inhaled corticosteroids and as add on therapy to ICS compared with adding long-acting ... agonists provided equivalent
Asthma is a condition that affects the airways (tubes carrying air in and out of the lungs). During an asthma exacerbation (attack), the airways narrow and drugs can be taken to dilate, or widen, the airways. Common bronchodilators (medicines used to wi...
Asthma is a common illness causing wheezing, coughing and difficulty with breathing in adults and children. Asthma is becoming increasingly common worldwide and this is especially true in higher income countries. There has been a move towards delivery o...
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) has characterized over the past 10 years 1,644 patients with asthma, including 583 individuals with severe asthma. SARP collaboration has led to a rapid recruitment of subjects and efficient sharing of samples among participating sites to conduct independent mechanistic investigations of severe asthma. Enrolled SARP subjects underwent detailed clinical, physiologic, genomic, and radiological evaluations. In addition, S
Long-term sustainability of health services requires an understanding of patients' values and preferences. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' preferences as well as their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a community pharmacy-delivered specialized asthma service using a discrete choice experiment (DCE).|Patients with asthma in New South Wales, Australia, who had recently experienced a specialized asthma management service at their pharmacy were mailed DCE questionnaires. Patients were asked to choose between two hypothetical service models with varying attributes. Multinomial logit models estimated patients' marginal WTP.|The study had a response rate of 47%. Patients greatly valued various aspects of the pharmacy-based specialized service and had marginal WTP values of AUD$18.00 for a private area, AUD$44.50 for lung function testing, AUD$9.18 for appointments with pharmacists, and AUD$22.80 for provision of comprehensive advice on asthma and its medications. The marginal WTP
Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a simple tool for assessing the level of asthma control in clinical practice, and it has been validated in comparison with a general clinical assessment of asthma control, including forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV(1)).|To evaluate the relationship between ACT score and clinical and functional findings of asthma control and biomarkers of airway inflammation.|A total of 68 asthmatic patients observed in our asthma clinic (33 regularly treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and 35 ICS-nave) filled ACT questionnaire and underwent the following measurements: (a) FEV(1) before and after salbutamol; (b) exhaled nitric oxide; (c) bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine; (d) sputum eosinophil count; and (e) daytime and nighttime symptoms, rescue salbutamol, and twice-daily peak expiratory flow (PEF) recording on a 4-week diary card.|ACT score significantly correlated with symptom score, rescue medication use, and PEF variability, but
Allergy Asthma Immunol. 206-7 Pilger Daniel D Rodrigues Laura C LC eng Letter United States Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 9503580 1081-1206 IM epidemiology ethnology genetics genetics epidemiology.
To assess the impact of omalizumab as an add-on therapy to standard treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABA) on asthma-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with severe allergic asthma.|This was a 20-week, randomized, open-label, study involving Brazilian patients (>12 years) with severe persistent allergic asthma inadequately controlled despite regular treatment with, at least, ICS (500 g/day fluticasone or equivalent) + LABA. The primary objective was to assess the mean change from baseline in overall Asthma-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) score in omalizumab-treated patients compared with the control group. Secondary outcome measures included rescue medication use, incidence of asthma exacerbations, perception of treatment efficacy among patients, mean change from baseline in AQLQ score, and >1.5-point increase in overall AQLQ score.|In the omalizumab group, overall AQLQ score was 3.2 (0.9) (mean [SD]) at baseline and
Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. William W. Busse, M.D. ... Gail Shapiro, M.D.. Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center. Seattle, WA. Stuart Stoloff, M.D.
Reviews the evidence for and against hundreds of preventive health services, recommending tests, and counseling interventions when evidence exists that it is effective.
Physician Performance Goals Are Great, But Balance Is More Realistic Jennifer Frank, MD, May 15, 2012 Performance measurements for physicians are well-intentioned and get me to rethink how I practice. But in the end I won't make the goals, so I'll have to go with balance over perfection.
Designing the Perfect Business Card for Your Medical Practice C. Noel Henley, MD, May 11, 2012 Does your business card say anything substantive about the valuable work you do in your practice? Here’s how to re-design your next business card for maximum impact and engagement.
Registered Nurses an Ideal Fit for Primary Care Practices Audrey "Christie" McLaughlin, RN, May 10, 2012 Here are four good reasons to hire a registered nurse for your primary care practice …maybe even instead of a medical assistant.
The Five Biggest Medical Practice Marketing Mistakes James Doulgeris, May 10, 2012 There are best practices to marketing your practice, but often, success is more about knowing what not to do. Here are the five most common pitfalls …and how to avoid them.
Can You Practice Medicine and Manage Your Practice? Rosemarie Nelson, May 9, 2012 Whether you practice alone, or in a group, if you're trying to see patients in this pay-for-volume environment and also run the business of your practice, you may be missing out on important opportunities.
Here to discuss her observations about controller medication use and sleep problems in children with asthma is... 
Children with asthma living in single-parent homes were found 50% more likely to return to the hospital within... 
For some people with asthma, daytime sleepiness may be the only clue to an overnight attack. Others, however,... 
What's new in how to help patients improve asthma self management? Here, an update on recent studies that look at... 