NEWER MEDICAL APPROACH

Asthma was first thought to be a disease that caused narrowing of the bronchial tubes. Originally many allergists treated the disease with medications called bronchodilators that were designed to dilate bronchi so that air could pass through them more easily.  Gradually medical research discovered that bronchial constriction was often accompanied by excess mucus and swelling of the lining of the lungs.  Today asthma is treated as a chronic disease of the bronchi and lungs.  Treatments have expanded to include various types of corticosteroids.  These medications in combination with bronchodilators have proven to be very effective in controlling moderate to severe asthma symptoms.  When symptoms are well-controlled, asthma patients have fewer absences from school or work and less need for hospitalizations.

P.S.  Asthma is estimated to affect about 300 million people worldwide, and statistics indicate that the number of people afflicted keeps rising.

---

< < Back to All Articles