Controlling Asthma: Goals of Therapy

According to the NAEPP, asthma management should focus on anti-inflammatory therapy. Treatment should strive to prevent symptoms, maintain near-normal pulmonary function tests, maintain normal activity levels, decrease asthma exacerbations, and provide a simple therapeutic regimen with minimal side effects. Treatment regimens are based upon asthma severity, which is classified using pretreatment clinical features, including number of days per month with symptoms, number of nights per month with symptoms, PEFR or FEV1, and PEFR variability.

Inhalable Mometasone (Nasonex) Can Control Asthma

The drug mometasone is currently marketed under the trade names Nasonex, a nasal spray for hayfever, and Elocon, a cream for psoriasis and rashes. Two recent studies reported that an inhalable form of mometasone appears to alleviate symptoms and improve respiratory function in patients with mild to moderate asthma. In the May 2000 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Dr.