ASTHMA PATIENTS CHASE SYMPTOMS RATHER THAN PREVENTING DISEASE.

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LUND, June 30 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Large Study Demonstrates That Patients May Miss the Opportunity for Avoiding Asthma Attacks

New data on the attitudes and behaviours of asthma patients just published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine highlight the need for a new strategy in asthma management.

The International Asthma Patient Insight Research (INSPIRE) study is the first large scale (n_3,415 patients) study in asthma patients on regular maintenance therapy. The study offers valuable insight in asthma patients' attitudes to asthma management, the impact of the condition on their daily lives, and how they respond to sudden worsenings of their symptoms.

Perhaps the most interesting insight for healthcare professionals who treat asthma patients is that there is a window of missed opportunity in current asthma management. The INSPIRE study shows that patients recognise the most common signs of an approaching worsening of their symptoms such as 'shortness of breath/getting breathless', as a 'warning period' but fail to prevent the attack itself.

From first noticing deterioration to the peak of a worsening, patients in the INSPIRE study reported a mean onset of 5.1 days but rather than adjusting the usage of preventative therapy, patients increase their reliever therapy thereby treating the symptoms rather than preventing the inflammation causing the worsening in the first place.