Clinical Asthma: Theory and Practice

The incidence of asthma continues to rise worldwide, doubling over the last 10 years1-3; consequently, asthma is placing a huge economic burden on health-care resources. Asthma management guidelines are now widely available in virtually every country. Their aim is to achieve control of the disease with the lowest possible dose of the medication prescribed. Asthma guidelines advocate a stepwise approach to pharmacological treatment: increase the amount and frequency of medication as asthma worsens (“step up”), and decrease the amount and frequency of medication when asthma is under control (“step down”). Once the control of asthma has been achieved and maintained for at least 3 months, a gradual reduction of the maintenance therapy is recommended to identify the minimum therapy required to maintain control