Changing asthma with every breath

Hyderabad: Nearly 60 years ago, a therapeutic revolution, enabled millions to breath freely. In these 60 years asthma has come a long way from stirring negative thoughts in the mind of patients and society; to a disease that can be easily managed and controlled. Over the years, asthma has been affected to every 10 children out of 100 above the age of 12 years and with the change in lifestyle asthma is due to 90 per cent of the time spent in Indoors.

The therapeutic revolution not just brought the change in solution with new technology but the change in patients (asthmatic) outcome. Modern devices have made it easy for patients to lead a normal-active life and the fear of stigma has been taken over by the health habits of asthma management.

Speaking on the occasion of World Asthma Day, Dr PNS Reddy, MD, DTCD, MNAMS (Med), FCCP Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda said, “Today inhalation therapy is the mainstay of treatment for asthma. Inhaled medicines are integral to the management of respiratory diseases like asthma. They deliver drugs directly to the lungs and hence act faster and at a lower dose, thereby reducing the risk of side effects. Inhaled medications have been shown to improve disease status, control symptoms, reduce the number and severity of exacerbations and improve quality of life.”

Approximately 90 per cent of physicians in India reported prescribing inhaler devices to at least 40 per cent of their asthma patients in the first clinic visit.
Speaking on the disease management challenges, Dr Madan Mohan Rao, MBBS, DCH, Hope Hospital said, “The key challenges in the management of asthma include improving compliance and developing effective and easy-to-use inhalers. Many patients frequently underutilise their medications or use their inhalers incorrectly, which can be detrimental to maintaining disease control. This can cause them to switch to oral therapy, which can be disastrous.”