About

The BREATHE Initiative

Approximately 8% of the population, including 20 million adults and more than 5 million children, have asthma in the United States, making asthma management an important priority for clinicians.1 Although asthma is characterized by symptoms such as recurrent episodes of wheezing, cough, chest tightness, and/or shortness of breath, which are usually accompanied by widespread but variable airflow obstruction, asthma is a heterogeneous disease, with up to 10% of patients experiencing severe symptoms.4,5 Advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of severe asthma has transformed the scientific understanding of asthma from a monolithic disease to a disease with multiple clinical and molecular phenotypes. To understand severe asthma, clinicians must these phenotypes and specific molecular pathways to effectively integrate molecularly targeted biologic therapies into patient care when appropriate.

Our Asthma BREATHE site provides information to support clinicians in the personalization of care for patients with severe asthma by providing clinicians with information to navigate the latest clinical literature and expert guidance in personalized severe asthma management. By providing this information, this initiative helps clinicians address barriers to integration of care, evaluate the latest clinical data, and create opportunities to improve the quality of care for patients with severe asthma.

 

 

References:

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recent national asthma data. March 30, 2021 (https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm).
  2. Global Asthma Network. Global Asthma Report 2018. (http://globalasthmareport.org/resources/Global_Asthma_Report_2018.pdf).
  3. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention. Updated 2021 (https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GINA-Main-Report-2021-V2-WMS.pdf).
  4. Gaga M, Zervas E, Chanez P. Update on severe asthma: what we know and what we need. Eur Respir Rev. 2009;18:58-65. doi:10.1183/09059180.00001009
  5. Quirt J, Hildebrand KJ, Mazza J, et al. Asthma. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2018;14(suppl 2):50. doi:10.1186/s13223-018-0279-0