Asthma - an update

Abstract

Asthma is a common medical problem throughout the world. Inspite of development in the therapeutic options, its prevalence has been increasing worldwide. With the increase understanding of the role of inflammation in asthma, greater stress has been layed on the early initiation of the anti-inflammatory therapy in the management. The national asthma education and prevention programme (NAEPP) have classified asthma according to severity of symptoms. They have also recommended a stepwise therapy according to clinical severity. Inhaled corticosteroids remain the main stay of therapy with a short acting beta 2 agonist used as needed for symptom relief.