Recent advances in asthma management

Effective asthma management requires that the diagnosis be made, even if the patient is very young and incapable of doing a pulmonary function test. Agreement on the goals of treatment between the patient and provider leads to a set of outcomes that can be used to measure the effectiveness of treatment and to modify it if needed. The most important component of asthma management is for patients to have a written asthma action plan that guides them to increase treatment when the asthma flares and reduce treatment when it gets better. With early diagnosis and effective treatment it should be possible for patients who have asthma to live normal lives.