[The treatment of asthma]

As asthma is a chronic, predominantly inflammatory process, maintenance therapy must be emphasized. It consists in most patients to regularly inhale a steroid agent (fluticasone or budesonide), in combination with non pharmacological interventions and occasional inhalation, as needed, of a short-acting sympathomimetic agent. When single therapy with an inhaled steroid is not sufficiently efficient, adding a long-acting sympathomimetic agent (salmeterol or formeterol) is recommended. Treatment of acute asthma includes repeated administration, at short interval, of an inhaled sympathomimetic agent (salbutamol or terbutaline) combined with oxygen and a systemic corticosteroid.