Approximately 300 million people globally have asthma, and this is expected to increase to 400 million by 2025. Worldwide, asthma claims one in 250 lives. Asthma is a respiratory disease caused by inflammation of the airways. However, the condition is made up of a group of syndromes with different origins and characteristics. Now an editorial states that the medical term 'asthma' should be eliminated because it is inaccurate and misunderstood.
The editorial, published in The Lancet, discussed whether asthma may be a symptom of several distinct diseases. Because asthma is a group of conditions with different symptoms and treatments, experts believe that asthma is not likely to be a single disease. For this reason, the editorial contends that the term asthma does not properly define this complex ailment.
"Perhaps asthma as a symptom is really only the clinical manifestation of several distinct diseases," the editorial authors write. "Rather than confusing scientists, doctors and patients even further, is it not time to step out of the straightjacket of a seemingly unifying name that has outlived its usefulness?"
However, some experts caution that eliminating the term asthma may increase the risk of under treating the condition. Instead, asthma patients should be carefully diagnosed and treated according to their type of asthma. For research purposes, asthma patients participating in studies should be carefully characterized, so that treatments that were proven for certain asthma syndromes were not applied to every type of asthma.
REFERENCES:
1. Editorial. A plea to abandon asthma as a disease concept. Lancet 2006 Aug 26;368(9537):705.
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on October 31, 2006 03:15 PM
