Why is uncontrolled asthma so common?
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Dr. Paul Ehrlich answered:While part of the needlessly high incidence of uncontrolled asthma is the fault of doctors, there's blame to be found in the behavior of patients, and patients' parents. The parents have misgivings about a diagnosis of asthma, so their doctor will treat their child for "bronchitis" instead. They don't want their child to take corticosteroids because they confuse them with the drugs that athletes take. They don't want to pay $20 out of pocket for a peak flow meter because their insurance won't pay for it. They want fast-acting relief drugs, not controller drugs that must be taken even when they don't have symptoms. These treatments are all part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines, yet they are commonly overlooked. Some 70 percent of asthma patients never refill their control medication, which is one reason we have 2 million emergencies due to asthma.
While part of the needlessly high incidence of uncontrolled asthma is the fault of doctors, there's blame to be found in the behavior of patients, and patients' parents. The parents have misgivings about a diagnosis of asthma, so their... More
