A GP guide to severe asthma in adults
Roughly 10% of Australians with asthma have severe disease, with potentially significant effects on quality of life and mortality
Need to know:
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterised by chronic airway inflammation, reversible expiratory airflow limitation and airway hyper-responsiveness.1
Roughly 10% of Australians have asthma, which clinically manifests as cough, chest tightness, wheeze and breathlessness.2
Although the majority of asthma patients can be effectively treated with currently available medications, a sizeable proportion remains difficult to treat because of a variety of factors, as outlined in box 1.3
