title: Severe asthma in adults: an orphan disease?
abstract: Severe asthma affects fewer than 10% of patients with asthma, is associated with a severe risk of death and disability, has a great impact on health and quality of life, and represents a huge cost to patients and society. Given the poor response to treatment and the side effects associated with medications for severe asthma, more efficient, cost-effective, and phenotype-specific medications are needed. Considering severe asthma as an orphan disease could encourage the pharmaceutical industry to stratify studies based on a more detailed characterization of study subjects at baseline, resulting in the development of novel therapeutic approaches.
authors.affiliation: 7th Respiratory Department and Asthma Centre, Athens Chest Hospital, 152 Mesogion Avenue, Athens 11527, Greece. minagaga@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaga
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zervas
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Samitas
authors.forename: Elisabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Bel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D035583:Rare Diseases; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents