[Asthma and COPD: what is new in their management in 2026?]

Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases in Switzerland, but their diagnosis remains challenging. Recent updates in international management guidelines have led to revisions in diagnosis, classification, and therapeutic management. In asthma, diagnostic criteria and exams are better defined and hierarchized, biologic therapies currently play a central role in severe asthma management, and salbutamol reliever monotherapy is no longer recommended. In COPD, GOLD guidelines have simplified their patient stratification into 3 categories (A, B, and E) and a single moderate exacerbation is now sufficient for inclusion in the high exacerbation risk group (E). Exacerbation severity is now graded according to the Rome proposal framework.