Going beyond standard therapies for severe, uncontrolled asthma
Published: 8th October 2024
Overview
- Asthma is a chronic lung disease marked by excessive variation in lung function and fluctuating respiratory symptoms, which can be controlled but not cured.
- Severe asthma is defined as persistent symptoms despite optimal treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting bronchodilators.
- Effective asthma control is indicated by fewer than two days per week of daytime symptoms, and less reliever medication use, activity limitations, and night symptoms.
- Approximately 45% of adults with asthma in Australia have uncontrolled symptoms, leading to frequent flare-ups and reduced quality of life.
- New biologic therapies target specific inflammatory pathways offering new treatment options for severe, uncontrolled asthma.
Asthma is a chronic lung disease, which can be controlled but not cured. In clinical practice, asthma is defined by the presence of both the following:1,2
- excessive variation in lung function (‘variable airflow limitation’, i.e. variation in expiratory airflow that is greater than that seen in healthy people)
- respiratory symptoms (e.g. wheeze, shortness of breath, cough, chest tightness) that vary over time and may be present or absent at any point in time.
