Hong Kong Respiratory Medicine

MMWR. 2011;60:547-552. JAMA 2011; 305: 2514-2516
Introduction
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects persons of all ages and is characterized by episodic and reversible attacks of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing.1 Although asthma cannot be cured at present, symptoms can be controlled with appropriate medical treatment, self-management education, and by avoiding exposure to environmental allergens and irritants that can trigger an attack.1,2

The most current evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma were developed by an expert panel commissioned by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP), coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).2 The NAEPP guidelines focus on four key components of asthma care to improve the quality of care and health outcomes of persons with asthma: (1) assessment and monitoring, (2) patient education, (3) control of factors contributing to asthma severity, and (4) medical treatment. These guidelines indicated that, among other long-term control medications for asthma, inhaled corticosteroids were the most potent and consistently effective long-term control medication.

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