Doha, Qatar: With rising temperatures and higher levels of pollutants and humidity during the summer, , experts are warning chronic asthma patients to take caution to prevent any triggers that could cause respiratory distress (i). Asthma is a lifelong chronic disease that affects the lungs and respiratory system that can lead to breathlessness, chest tightness and cough. The condition has several risk factors and triggers that can affect patients, such as. genetics, tobacco exposure, occupational exposure, air pollution, respiratory infection, and adherence to treatment(ii).
The unprecedented spike in coronavirus pandemic has once again shifted the focus of the whole mankind to health and lifestyle, especially for those who are suffering from various diseases and ailments like asthma.
Although asthma cannot be cured, it is important for people living with it to manage the condition in order to reduce the symptoms and prevent attacks, also called episodes. In the Gulf region, approximately half of people reported living with asthma are not managing their condition adequately(iii).
When it comes to the day-to-day lives of patients, asthma attacks are often cited as a cause for missing work and school, which is why it is crucial that patients take action to help improve their quality of life. One of the tips is to avoid asthma triggers like tobacco smoke, mould, air pollution, and sickness from colds and flu.
On the importance of adherence to treatment, Dr. Nasser Al Busaidi, the president of Oman Respiratory Society and senior consultant pulmonologist at Royal Hospital, explained: “A chronic asthma patient is prescribed a series of medications that may include an inhaled cortico-steroid inhaler (ICS) to prevent inflammation of the respiratory tract, and a broncho-dilator medicine that helps in reducing the airway inflammation during attacks.”
He stressed: “Adherence to inhalers increase asthma symptom control and reduce exacerbations, therefore, helping to decrease health care costs, hospitalizations, mortality and help to improve quality of life. Patients can reduce their risk of an asthma attack and ensure their asthma is well-managed by scheduling regular asthma reviews with their doctor”.
A new study by science-led global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) shows that sustained airway protection with low systemic side effects can be achieved with proactive regular dosing with ICS and with a high adherence level (100%) to the treatment regimen with different inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) studied, it provided 100% protection (iiii).
“Although inflammation is present even in patients with mild asthma, patients tend to be poorly adherent to daily controller therapy, which may lead to long-term safety implications,” said Dr. Averyan Vasylyev, Medical Director, GSK Gulf. “These promising results from our study, demonstrating the importance of a high adherence to asthma medications, hence will provide a much-needed benefit to patients in the country, to ensure that they live a good quality of life with least disruption to their daily activities.”
