A new approach of patients in the treatment of asthma through constant care and periodic checks: with this goal, the fifth edition of ASMA ZERO WEEK, a national event dedicated to people with asthma that from 7 to 11 June will make available free specialist consultations in over 50 specialized centers throughout Italy, bookable, from today, through the toll-free number 800 62 89 89.
The campaign promoted again this year by FederASMA and ALLERGIES Odv – Italian Patient Federation, with the patronage of the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC) and the Italian Society of Pneumology (SIP / IRS), in partnership with AstraZeneca, intends to raise the awareness of over 3 million patients in Italy on the importance of preventing asthma attacks and the possibility of reducing their impact on daily life through the adoption of correct therapeutic strategies, informing, in particular, about the possible risks associated with the abuse of short-acting bronchodilators (SABAs).
Are approximately 300 million people in the world called to live with asthma, 1 in 20. In Europe, around 30 million children and adults under the age of 45 suffer from this high-impact chronic inflammatory airway disease. Dyspnea, chest tightness, cough and bronchospasm are the main symptoms that require specialist attention.
“In a year still marked by the health emergency, in which there are many difficulties in ensuring continuity of care for patients, FederASMA and ALLERGIE confirms its commitment to disseminate, in collaboration with the scientific community and with adhering specialists, who will offer their free voluntary activity, information and support for patients with asthma for better management of the disease” declares Alessandra Peres, FederASMA Delegate and ALLERGIES Odv. “Thousands of people with asthma throughout Italy will therefore have the opportunity to carry out, in a comfortable and easy way, a control assessment of the state of the disease and receive useful information and advice for its management”.
A widespread problem in the patient’s approach to the disease is excessive reliance on the use of SABA, broncodilatatori beta2– short-acting agonists, which can become habit if not addiction and abuse.1 Currently, the scientific community tends to distance itself from the use of SABAs alone, which act on the symptoms and not on the underlying inflammation. e whose regular or even frequent use can be a sign of poor control of the disease, increasing the risk of flare-ups.2,3
To increase the awareness of the asthmatic patient on the subject, a self-assessment tool has been developed: the SABA Reliance Questionnaire, conceived by Professor Rob Horne, University College London. Patients can do this short test on the site www.asmazero.it to detect your own perception on the use of drugs and evaluate any excessive use of SABA.3 Based on the answers provided, the test indicates whether the patient is at low, medium or high risk of relying too much on their “blue inhaler” and is invited to immediately take the opportunity offered by ASMA ZERO WEEK to talk to a doctor. specialist. In support of this self-assessment test Astra Zeneca has promoted a communication campaign by title “How much do you use your asthma spray?».
“It is believed that in asthma a increase airway inflammation contributes to the worsening of symptoms and lung function ” points out the Prof. Paola Rogliani, Associate Professor of Diseases of the Respiratory System, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata; Director of UOC Respiratory System Diseases, Emergency and Acceptance Department, Tor Vergata Polyclinic Foundation, Rome. “The recommendations of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) prescribe that SABAs are no longer used alone in any step of the disease treatment, but recommend that all adults and adolescents with asthma receive disease control treatment with corticosteroide inalatorio (ICS), symptom-driven (in mild asthma) or daily, to reduce the risk of severe exacerbations and to control symptoms ”.
Constant treatment of asthma and prevention of acute symptoms they must not be overlooked or questioned by patients in times of pandemic Covid-19: several studies indicate reassuring data for those who, like asthmatics, use inhaled corticosteroids.
“The susceptibility of asthmatics to infection appears to be reduced. A recent editorial in the British Medical Journal highlighted that there was an important one contraction of severe asthma exacerbations at the level of territorial medicine and hospital access, probably attributable to a increased demand by patients with chronic airway disease of inhaled corticosteroids linked to a greater sensitivity towards the pathology induced by the pandemic and a better therapeutic adherence than recommended by specialists and scientific societies “4, underlines Prof. Giorgio Walter Canonica, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Humanitas University; Head of Personalized Medicine Center: Asthma and Allergology, Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano (MI); International Advocate GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma).
Not only that, but a recent study edited by Professor Paola Rogliani shows that patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at lower risk of hospitalization in the event of Covid-19. “This apparently “paradoxical” result could be related to theprotective effect of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) administered worldwide to most asthma and COPD patients”Explains Prof. Rogliani. “This would indirectly support the evidence that ICS can improve the clinical course of Covid-19probably by modulating the expression of receptors that facilitate virus entry into host cells”.5
Finally, this season, not to be overlooked the correlation between asthma, allergies and air pollution. Air pollution causes significant morbidity and mortality in patients with diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.6
“When an asthma patient on maintenance therapy for disease control is exposed to these pollutants, they may need to be further intervention in response to acute symptoms such as bronchoconstriction. The ICS / LABA combination (ed. that is of Inhaled Corticosteroids and Long-acting Beta Agonists) it can therefore be usefully used even when needed to prevent allergen-induced bronchoconstriction.7 This use, approved and reported in the Summary of Product Characteristics of budesonide / formoterol (ICS / LABA), must in any case always be discussed between physician and patient.”Adds prof. Giorgio Walter Canonica.
The approach to treating asthma is complex and continuously updated. The indication for patients is to carry out periodic checks to monitor the management of the disease.
The free specialist consultations, offered as part of ASMA ZERO WEEK, are control assessments and as such are intended for people who have already been diagnosed with asthma. To book a visit you need call the toll-free number 800 628989 from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), from 9.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00. All information on participating Centers and how to book consultancy is available on the website https://www.asmazeroweek.it/.
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