May 24, 2002 (Health Media Ltd) - The study of 5- to 50-year-olds suffering from varying degrees of asthma suggests that improved control of the disease and better awareness might reduce healthcare costs. Both asthma morbidity and mortality have climbed since the 1970s and studies of deaths from the disease suggest that two factors - a lack of recognition by patients of the severity of their illness and undertreatment of their condition by physicians - are partially responsible for this. The study was population-based, and covered urban and rural areas in Alberta. Dr Ian Mitchell and colleagues from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, compared patients who had experienced NFA and had been treated in intensive care with patients who had been treated for asthma in a hospital Emergency Department (ED) and a group of asthmatics cared for in the community (Community Control (CC) subjects). NFA patients were defined as having required assisted ventilation in an intensive care unit in a city or regional centre, and their asthma diagnosis and management had been carried out by local clinicians. Participants were asked to comment on their history of allergies, exposure to triggers, and feelings of vulnerability. The investigation found that NFA patients had modifiable risk factors, and also many similarities to ED and CC subjects with asthma. NFA sufferers reported a significantly larger number of allergies and atopies than the ED group, and were more likely to have a history of eczema and a life-threatening allergic reaction. In comparison, the ED sufferers reported more upper respiratory tract infections. The report concludes that attention to the severity of the disease, the use of prophylactic drugs and the avoidance of triggers are applicable for everyone with asthma.

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