Asthma drug treatments

Asthma is the most serious of the atopic diseases and has become epidemic, affecting more than 155 million individuals in the developed world. It is the most common chronic childhood disease in developed nations [1], and carries a very substantial direct and indirect economic cost worldwide [2]. A number of pharmacological treatments have been developed for asthma. These treatments have a modest efficacy overall, due in part to widely variable individual responses to asthma drugs. Because of such variability, it is clear that some of the substantial resources expended on asthma medication, estimated to exceed U.S. 3 billion per annum in the U.S. alone [3], would be better spent targeting those patients who... 

Blake KV. Drug treatment of airway inflammation in asthma. Pharmacotherapy 2001 21 3S-20S. 

The staging and drug treatment for acute severe asthma has changed over the past three decades, comprising primarily of bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and oxygen. A summary flow chart for the... 

With these difficulties in mind, drug treatment programs do surprisingly well at keeping people on the road to recovery. The NIDA says the treatment of addiction is as successful in 2002 as the treatment of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. 

It is known that the antibiotic rifampicin increases the amount of drug metabolizing enzyme present in the liver and consequently increases the rate of elimination of a wide range of other drugs. This experiment is designed to detect whether rifampicin affects the metabolic removal of the anti-asthma drug theophylline. Any such interaction could be of real practical importance. A marked increase in the elimination of theophylline would result in inadequate treatment of the patient s asthma. 

Asthma is a chronic inflammation disorder of the airways that make the bronchial tubes swell and narrow, producing wheezing, chest tightness, breathlessness, and coughing symptoms. Airway narrowing in asthma is caused by inflammation, bronchospasm, and bronchial hyperactivity. Asthma does not affect the alveoli and is reversible spontaneously and by drug treatment. Asthma is fully reversible and thus is different from COPD and emphysema, which are accompanied by destruction of alveolar walls and are irreversible. 

Anderson HR, Bailey PA, Cooper JS, Palmer JC Influence of morbidity, illness label and social, family, and health service factors on drug treatment of childhood asthma. Lancet 1981 ii 1030-1032. 

Effective treatment of asthma is currently based on two main groups of asthma drugs, the bronchodilators such as /f-agonists, theophylline and ipratropium bromide and the anti-inflammatory agents, particularly glucocorticosteroids and the... 

Tertiary Active rehabilitation after stroke to improve speech and mobility and prevent pressure sores and other complications Treatment of asthma by reducing or eliminating exposure, with drug treatment if necessary, to prevent complications such as death... 

A patient with a history of episodic attacks of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath is being evaluated in the asthma clinic. Several drug treatments with different routes of administration are under consideration. Which of the following statements about routes of administration is MOST correct ... 

Furthermore, delavirdine (Rescriptor) is a novel HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor for HIV-positive individuals and zafirlukast (Accolate) is an anti-asthma drug. The anti-emetics ramosetron (Nasea) and dolasetron (Anzemet) are potent and highly selective 5-HTj receptor antagonists for die treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. 

Holgate ST. The inflammatory basis of asthma and its implications for drug treatment. Clin Exp AUergy 1996 26(suppl 4) 1-4. 

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