An invisible disease: severe asthma is more than just "bad asthma"

Severe asthma, although a small portion of all asthma, still impacts millions of patients worldwide. It drives more morbidity, mortality and costs than milder asthma [1, 2]. However, its human toll is much less appreciated. In their timely, moving article, Foster et al. [3] describe the enormous impact of severe asthma on patient's lives [4]. Interviewing 25 severe asthmatic patients, the authors identified four common themes, including those related to personal interactions, medications, isolation and adaptation of their life. The quotes are simple and pointed. For many reasons, much of this patient perspective has not been appreciated by healthcare providers, the general public, and even by close family members and associates. Thus, this report, detailing the burden that severe asthmatics bear every day, begins to make "visible" a disease that has until now been mostly "invisible".
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Asthma and allergy Editorials Source Type: research