OBJECTIVES After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Identify the major environmental factors and comorbid conditions that affect asthma. 2. Describe the role of a written asthma action plan in the management of asthma. 3. Know how to assess asthma control and adjust therapy appropriately. 4. Discuss the evaluation and management of the child who has an acute exacerbation of ...

© 2014 Kameel et al; licensee Herbert Publications Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). This permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction It is estimated that about 300 million individuals of all ag...

To investigate whether dry powder inhalers (DPIs) function in a constrained situation, a literature analysis was performed to evaluate the use of DPIs compared with established therapies in the treatment of acute asthma and COPD, irrespective of rapid-acting beta(2)-agonist used. The external databases Medline, Embase, Biosis and Current Contents and AstraZeneca's internal literature database P...

Aims and intended learning outcomes The aim of this article is to update the reader's knowledge of the management of acute exacerbations of childhood asthma. After reading this article you should be able to: ■ Recall the causes, incidence and treatment principles of childhood asthma ■ Recognise the signs of an acute asthmatic attack which indicate the need for referral to hospital ■ Describe th...

QUESTIONS What are the effects of treatments for acute asthma in children?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 What are the effects of single agent prophylaxis in children taking as needed inhaled beta agonists for asthma?. 1 0 What are the effects of additional prophylactic treatments in childhood asthma inadequately controlled by standard dose inhaled cort...

Asthma remains the second most common cause for admissions to a paediatric hospital bed. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of children admitted to hospital with an acute asthma attack and to identify factors that may prevent future hospital admissions. Parents of all children aged 3 to 15 years admitted to hospital for acute asthma were interviewed and the child's case r...

Bilateral subconjunctival haemorrhage was observed on 5 separate occasions in 4 patients presenting a fulminant form of acute severe asthma. Four of these episodes required ventilatory support. All patients recovered from their asthma attack after treatment with bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and oxygen. The incidence of this previously unreported finding represents 5% of the total number of...

PURPOSE Prolonged recovery time of pulmonary function after an asthma exacerbation is a significant burden on asthmatics, and management of these patients needs to be improved. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with a longer recovery time of pulmonary function among asthmatic patients hospitalized due to a severe asthma exacerbation. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed ...