Asthma Treatment Guidelines and Professional Organizations
Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma are available from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). A few of the key recommendations related to asthma control are summarized below.1
- Patients should be given a written asthma action plan.
- Patients who have symptoms more than twice a week during the day or who use more than one canister (200 puffs) of a quick-relief inhaler per month suggests inadequate asthma control. Such patients may require a step up in long-term control medication. Reevaluate in 2-6 weeks.
- Long-term control medications should be taken daily on a long-term basis to achieve and maintain control of persistent asthma. The most effective long-term control medications are those that attenuate the underlying inflammation characteristic of asthma.
- ICSs are the most effective long-term therapy available for patients who have persistent asthma.
- A stepwise approach to therapy, in which the dose and number of medications and frequency of administration are increased as necessary and decreased when possible, should be used to achieve and maintain this control.
Professional Organizations for Physicians Who Treat Patients With Asthma
The professional organizations listed below offer educational and networking opportunities for healthcare providers who treat asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Indication
QVAR® (beclomethasone dipropionate HFA) Inhalation Aerosol is indicated in the maintenance treatment of asthma as prophylactic therapy in patients 5 years of age or older. QVAR® is also indicated for asthma patients who require systemic corticosteroid administration, where adding QVAR® may reduce or eliminate the need for systemic corticosteroids.
Important Safety Information
QVAR® is not a bronchodilator and is not indicated for relief of acute bronchospasm.
CAUTION: Adrenal insufficiency may occur when transferring patients from systemic steroids (see WARNINGS, Prescribing Information).
A reduction in growth velocity in growing children and teenagers may occur as a result of inadequate control of chronic diseases such as asthma or from use of corticosteroids for treatment
Common side effects associated with the use of QVAR® and placebo in clinical trials include, but are not limited to, headache (12% and 9% respectively) and pharyngitis (8% and 4% respectively).