Browse Asthma (Allergy/Immunology)

This article reviews the presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of bronchiectasis, a syndrome of abnormal airways that results in chronic cough, sputum production, and respiratory impairment.

Since the initial guidelines of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) were published in 1991,¹ short-acting β₂-agonists (SABAs) have been recommended as the preferred rescue therapy for patients with asthma of any severity. In the 2020 NAEPP update,² for the first time,...

Among patients with moderate-to-severe asthma who were receiving a range of inhaled glucocorticoid maintenance therapies, the risk of severe asthma exacerbation was significantly lower with as-needed use of a fixed-dose combination of 180 μg of albuterol and 160 μg of budesonide than with albuterol alone.

Although reliever-triggered inhaled glucocorticoid therapy can reduce asthma exacerbations, this approach has not been well studied in Black and Latinx populations, who bear disproportionate asthma morbidity and mortality. In a pragmatic trial involving Black and Latinx patients, the asthma exacerbation rate was lower with reliever-triggered inhaled glucocorticoid use than with...

Although asthma disproportionately affects Black and Latinx patients, they are underrepresented in studies of therapy, which makes it difficult to determine whether the results may be applied to them. Since race is not a biologic but a social construct, health disparities among persons with asthma are not a result of...

Patients with severe asthma are at increased risk for a decreased quality of life, fixed airway obstruction, hospitalization, and death. Biologics may be required to reduce the disease burden. This review discusses the mechanisms, efficacy, and safety of biologics for severe asthma.

Basic science has enriched our understanding of the pathophysiology of severe asthma. Clinical translation of these discoveries has resulted in biologic therapies that target key components of asthma-related disease pathways. For example, identification and validation of biomarkers such as elevated blood eosinophil counts made it possible to implement tailored biologic...

A 70-year-old woman was evaluated because of increasing dyspnea on exertion and abnormal findings on chest imaging. Eleven years before this evaluation, mild mosaic attenuation at the lung bases was identified incidentally. Three years later, dyspnea on exertion developed and pulmonary function worsened. Diagnostic tests were performed.

A mouse model of airway contraction in asthma, together with analyses of the human lung, indicates that maresin conjugates, a family of lipid mediators, play a role in the resolution of inflammation. Might these lipids represent a pharmacologic target in the treatment of inflammatory disorders?

Asthma is a major cause of illness and health care costs: in 2016, almost 200,000 Americans were admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack, and 40% of them were children (https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/healthcare-use/healthcare-use-2016.htm ). It therefore makes sense to consider asthma prevention a major public health priority. In most cases...

This article addresses the potential mechanistic links between hypertension and asthma as well as the influence of coexisting conditions. An approach to the treatment of hypertension in adult patients with asthma is outlined.

A recent study of Charcot–Leyden crystals, which are typically present in the airway mucus of persons with asthma and of persons with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, indicates that they are immunogenic and that their dissolution — with the use of a nanobody — represents an experimental approach to treatment...