Poor asthma management
April 17, 2012
MANY Australians suffering from
asthma are under treated according
to a new report in the NPS’
Australian Prescriber.
The comments come from
Associate Professor Helen Reddel,
research leader at the Woolcock
Institute of Medical Research who
said that more than 50% of all
asthmatics aged 15-34 are
dispensed preventative
medications only once a year.
This statistic, according to Reddel
indicates that “many people are
not taking enough of these
medicines to reduce the risk of
asthma flare-ups”.
Other issues with asthma
management according to Reddel
include the fact that most
asthmatics do not use their inhalers
correctly, which not only wastes
their medication, but leads to poor
clinical outcomes.
“Deaths from asthma have
dramatically fallen in recent years,
so it is often perceived as a
commonplace and rarely serious
condition,” she said.
“However, treatment of asthma in
Australia is not optimal,” she added.
Interestingly Reddel also said that
there is a high portion of sufferers
who are being “over treated” and
are prescribed higher dosages of
medication than what is necessary
to treat their condition.
“The majority of preventer
prescriptions for asthma in
Australian adults are for the highest
potency combination of an inhaled
corticosteroid and long-acting beta2
agonist rather than a low-dose
inhaled corticosteroid which alone
should be sufficient for most
patients,” she said.
Instead of overmedicating
patients, Reddel recommends that
patients have their asthma control
and risk factors reviewed once or
twice a year, and have their
treatment adjusted if necessary.
“Patients may also make short
term adjustments for worsening
asthma in accordance with their
written action plan,” she added.
See www.australianprescriber.com.
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