Mild persistent asthma. Traits, treatment set it apart from mild intermittent asthma.
Mild persistent asthma has greater airway hyperresponsiveness than mild intermittent asthma and may also have more persistent respiratory symptoms and more severe consequences. By other measures, the two conditions are not always easy to differentiate. Nevertheless, primary care physicians need to be able to recognize and treat mild persistent asthma in order to reduce the number of severe exacerbations, and even fatalities, that can occur if it is not properly managed. In this article, Dr Lim discusses how to differentiate mild persistent asthma from mild intermittent asthma and explores the best options for pharmacologic treatment.
Lim
Kaiser G
KG
Mayo Clinic Foundation, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. lim.kaiser@mayo.edu
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D020024:Leukotriene Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D020024:Leukotriene Antagonists