Recent Advances in Long-Term Management of Asthma.

Abstract

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood with significant morbidity. Management of asthma has evolved from inhaled corticosteroids to personalized therapy in recent years. This article summarizes the recent advances in the management of asthma. The severity of asthma is assessed retrospectively by the level of treatment required to control asthma symptoms.Recently, there has been an emphasis on not to use short-acting beta-2 agonist (SABA) alone, even for intermittent or mild asthma. Single maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) is increasingly being recommended. Asthma therapy should be personalized based on phenotype (clinical presentations) and endotypes (distinct mechanistic pathways) of asthma and by a continuous cycle of assessment of asthma control and risk assessment, treatment, and reviewing the response in children on treatment. Various add-on therapy like tiotropium and biological monoclonal antibodies have been approved for use in a subset of children with severe asthma. Before considering biologicals, it is vital to have a proper diagnosis, good compliance and inhaler technique, and treatment of comorbidities.