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Research questions in Asthma
Asthma is "a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the airways . . . .in susceptible individuals, inflammatory symptoms are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction and an increase in airway response to a variety of stimuli. Obstruction is usually reversible, either spontaneously or with treatment".1
The clinical diagnosis of asthma is not always simple, as symptoms can sometimes be shared with those of other respiratory disorders. As a result the GINA guidelines1 were published to try and assist asthma management across primary care. More recently the body of evidence has been sufficient to carry out a systematic review, resulting in the latest guidelines and highlighting areas of asthma care that could be improved by future research.
The IPCRG identified eight areas as priorities of future research to support improvement in asthma care. In some areas, an investment in clinical trials will be needed to research how well current new treatments and management strategies really work. In other areas, a more "piloted" approach, encompassing exploratory and descriptive work to find out how motivated both patients and physicians are to improve the standard of asthma care, would be required.
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