Severe Asthma: The Implications and Effective Management

As of 2016, approximately 38 million people are living with Asthma in India and about 5% of those are estimated to have severe asthma1. Symptoms like cough, wheezing, breathlessness, tightness of the chest vary in severity and frequency in these patients. While there is no cure for asthma, the best way of management is to avoid triggers and take medications that prevent asthma episodes.

Severe asthma presents with further challenges of being difficult to diagnose and treat. If left untreated by specialists, it may lead to disease flare-ups leading to frequent hospitalizations and poor quality of life. Prolonged use of steroids at high doses which may be required to manage the severe asthma attacks, also may lead to unmanageable and long-term side effects.

Tablets including steroids and inhalers help in preventing and relieving the attacks of severe asthma. In recent years, injectable medicines like biologics are available which are tailored for the treatment of severe asthma. They improve the overall quality of life by reducing asthma attacks, controlling asthma symptoms, and reducing the need for oral steroids.

In this panel discussion organized by GSK Pharmaceuticals Ltd and ETHealthworld.com on World Lung Day, the experts will come together and discuss the various aspects of severe asthma.

Key Discussion Points:

• What is Asthma and how is Severe Asthma different?
• What is the impact of Severe Asthma on patients and what are the challenges?
• Why is it important to treat severe asthma? What are the available treatment options and how long should they be continued?
• What is the impact of COVID-19 on severe asthma and what are the vaccine considerations?