Controlling Asthma With Web-Based Technology

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Also Included In: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 17 Mar 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Asthma is the reason that in 2006, there were an estimated 12.8 million lost school days in children and 10.1 million lost work days in adults. It is the cause for two million annual emergency room visits, and it costs Americans almost $20 billion in healthcare costs every year. It currently affects 23 million Americans, and about 7 million children are among those.

Backed by these startling statistics, The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a report over 300 pages long at the end of 2007 on asthma. The report includes Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. Since the last NHLBI/NIH report on asthma in 2002, great advancements have been made in research and improved scientific understanding of the disease. The emphasis in the current guidelines is on control.

According to Dr. Gary Rachelefsky, Professor of Allergy and Immunology at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the idea is to minimize medicine and improve the quality of life for patients.

"The problem with asthma in America is that people don't take is as a serious disease," says Dr. Rachelefsky.

To counteract the impacts of asthma, specialists are getting behind a nationwide campaign to educate patients and clinicians about asthma as a disease and its treatments.

Part of the effort is a web-based tool called "ASTHMA IQ". The tool helps allergist/immunologists and other asthma specialists learn about, and apply in everyday practice, the key components of new medical asthma guidelines. This should result in improved quality of care delivered to patients with asthma. ASTHMA IQ was introduced Monday at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology's (AAAAI) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

ASTHMA IQ is designed to impart knowledge about a disease often misdiagnosed and viewed simply as a series of symptoms. Allergist/immunologists and other asthma specialists who use Asthma IQ will be able to better apply the guidelines to their practice and design specific plans to improve the care of their asthma patients.

Dr. Thomas Casale is President of the AAAAI and Professor of Medicine and Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Chief of Allergy/Immunology at Creighton University in Omaha. Dr. Casale says that ASTHMA IQ can be a useful tool for physicians in diagnosis and treatment.

"ASTHMA IQ contains decision-support features that provide specific feedback based on patient's age, asthma impairment, and asthma risk," says Dr. Casale. "Asthma IQ can help physicians identify the most appropriate severity or control level and initiate or adjust therapies."

Dr. Rachelefsky, of the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, sees many physicians using technology as an in-road to aiding in diagnosis and treatment. Implementing ASTHMA IQ will save health care dollars by assuring that patients care is appropriately managed.

Knowledge of drug and treatment options is an important part of Asthma IQ. Inhaled steroids are a major component to controlling asthma. Used regularly, they help a person keep their airways from swelling. The level of steroids in an inhaler is much lower than oral tablets, use of which should be kept to a minimum. Tablets are usually taken when a patient loses control over their asthma.

"Asthma is a dynamic disease, not a fixed one," says Dr. Rachelefsky. Symptoms and severity are subject to the environment. For example, if a patient is exposed to tobacco smoke, their asthma could be triggered to change.

When control is lost is when patients will experience exacerbations, and asthma becomes dangerous. Dr. William Busse is Professor and Chair of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Chair of the Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3), the NHLBI/NIH report on asthma, upon which ASTHMA IQ is based. He says asthma specialists are "stepping up" asthma medications to gain better control but also "stepping back" when control is achieved." The idea is to aggressively suppress the disease using a step-wise approach to management.

The AAAAI represents allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic disease. Allergy/immunology specialists are pediatric or internal medicine physicians who have elected an additional two years of training to become specialized in the treatment of asthma, allergy and immunologic disease. Established in 1943, the AAAAI has more than 6,500 members in the United States, Canada and 60 other countries.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology