Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma: update on selected topics 2002

Asthma is an extremely common disorder, affecting more than 17 million people in the United States. Asthma is the most frequently treated chronic disease in primary care settings and affects patients of all ages. The recently published update to the NHLBI asthma diagnosis and management guidelines, a valuable resource for NPs in all specialties, is summarized in this column.