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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 300 million people
around the world suffer from asthma with over 80 percent of asthma
deaths occurring in low and lower-middle income countries. In the
Philippines, an estimated 12 percent of the population, children and
adults included, suffer from asthma. And yet many Filipinos
suffering from asthma still do not take the necessary steps to
completely control their condition. These are the findings of the
latest findings from the 2nd Asthma Insights and Reality in the
Asia-Pacific Region (AIRIAP) Study.
Uncontrolled asthma is a serious concern
associated with a high symptom burden including disturbed sleep,
shortness of breath and increased visits to doctors, which could
otherwise be avoided by achieving total asthma control.
AIRIAP study investigator Dr. Teresita de Guia,
pulmonologist and founding chairman of the Philippine Foundation for
Lung Health Research & Development, says the results reveal the
Filipinos’ penchant for stop-gap measures instead of achieving
total control. “Most patients still use quick-relief
bronchodilators when they experience an attack while only a small
percentage use medications such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to
prevent the onset of these attacks,” she says.
The latest data shows that 87 percent of
Filipino asthma patients still resort to quick-relief
bronchodilators versus the 9 percent who use preventive inhaled
corticosteroids.
Awareness of ICS was also low among respondents
as only 23 percent were familiar with corticosteroids.
This is despite the fact that steroids are in
fact considered the cornerstone of asthma management, with numerous
studies affirming the relative importance of preventers versus
relievers in asthma management.
Moreover, patients are over-estimating their
control of asthma, only taking medication when they are experiencing
symptoms or are already suffering from an attack. Uncontrolled
asthma severely limits the activities that patients engage in. The
study showed that 57 percent of those with mild intermittent
symptoms engage in sports but only 31 percent of those with severe
persistent symptoms do so. Those with mild intermittent symptoms
also feel freer to go on social activities versus those with severe
persistent symptoms
Dr. de Guia emphasizes that asthma is not
curable, but can be completely controlled with proper medication.
“With the availability of preventive medications, asthma sufferers
should be able to live normal lives, unhampered by the debilitating
effects of their condition,” Dr. de Guia adds.
The other countries who participated in the
AIRIAP study showed slight improvements in the use of ICS since the
first study was conducted in 2000. The AIRIAP studies surveyed over
3,200 asthma patients in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam,
Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, and included
respondents from India, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka in AIRIAP
2.
The survey covered factors such as the frequency
and severity of symptoms, asthma treatment and management, the
burden of illness and health-care usage to yield the first accurate
picture of knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and health outcomes of
the population of asthma sufferers in the Asia-Pacific Region.
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