[Asthma management: overview and new aspects]

Asthma is a common, chronic inflammatory disease of the airways associated with pronounced health and economic consequences. The clinical spectrum of asthma is highly variable and different clinical and inflammatory phenotypes are noticed. Improved understanding of these phenotypes in a complex disease like asthma will assist in management and targeted therapies for asthma. In the first National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines the level of symptoms and airflow limitation and its variability subdivided asthma by severity into four subcategories (intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent, and severe persistent). In the new GINA guidelines the classification of asthma severity is now no longer recommended, but a periodic assessment of asthma control is recommended as being more relevant and useful. The three sub-categories are controlled, partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma. In this article several important considerations in definition and control of asthma in adults shall be addressed as well as pharmacotherapy and implications for treatment strategies and management plans to assess and gain control of asthma.