Asthma: Control with the Homeopathy

Abstract

Asthma is a common chronic disease with underlying inflammation of the airway. Advances in science have led to increase understanding of the heterogeneous nature of asthma and its complex mechanism. Traditionally, asthmapractice guidelines have focused on optimizing lung function. The FDA has required increase in lung function and reduction of exacerbation as primary outcomes in clinical trials under new asthma therapeutics. Improved lung function is a critical indicator of bronchodilator therapy, but the importance of long-term asthma control while maintaining on controller medication is increasingly emphasized. The NIH asthma guidelines suggest the use the patients-reported outcomes, including health-related quality-of-life measures, to assess asthma control. Clinical practices and research studies concerning asthma can benefit from harmonizing the major outcome measures so that comparison across studies can be made. In this article, we review common asthma outcome measures with a focus on recent efforts to harmonize outcomes for therapeutic clinical trials in asthma. Identifying relevant short-term and long-term outcome measures is critical for the management of asthma and evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. The criteria used to assess asthma outcomes have varied widely from study to study. When asthma is poorly controlled, the patient's activities tend to be restricted, their role function is limited and their work productivity is reduced. In addition, they may require unscheduled, urgent use of healthcare. Hence, patientreported outcomes, including health-related quality of life, are important indicators of asthma control.