Helping patients take control of their asthma.

The prevalence of asthma in the United States has increased during the past 2 decades from 5 million patients in 1980 to 16 million in 2002.The goal of patient education--the most important aspect of asthma care--is to help patients take control their asthma. Patient education should begin at the time of diagnosis and continue at every step of clinical asthma care.First-line rescue treatment is provided by a short-acting beta[2]-agonist bronchodilator such as albuterol.Daily anti-inflammatory therapy is the mainstay of treatment for most patients with asthma, except those with mild, intermittent disease.Mild intermittent asthma can be treated with short-acting beta[2]-agonist bronchodilators alone. More persistent asthma requires controller medication, usually an inhaled corticosteroid, to treat the inflammatory component of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]