The Management of Severe Asthma - An Indian Perspective

Epidemiologically the burden of asthma in India is alarming with a median prevalence of 7%. As the symptoms of asthma ascend the severity ladder, the prediction of the cause of asthma is important from the treatment point of view. The GINA 2020 states that the management of asthma should be individualized as per the patient depending on patient phenotype. The goal of asthma treatment is to achieve good control of symptoms, to reduce exacerbations and to improve quality of life. Guidelines recommend adapting the level of treatment to the level of disease severity, and this approach has been demonstrated to be effective in the majority of asthma patients overall. However, it is known that a small but significant proportion of patients do not achieve adequate control despite optimized treatment, and these patients are frequently prescribed high doses of oral steroids in an attempt to achieve control. For patients with severe uncontrolled asthma, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against IgE or IL-5 are available as add-on treatments to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) plus long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) therapy. With a plethora of available modalities, the fact still remains that there is a large treatment gap and the number of people living with asthma in India is predicted to be around 30 million. This article reviews the phenotypes/endotypes of asthma described in India and the current therapies for management.