TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnosis and management of asthma in the elderly
AU - Scichilone, Nicola
AU - Pedone, Claudio
AU - Battaglia, Salvatore
AU - Sorino, Claudio
AU - Bellia, Vincenzo
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, and by definition not expected to recover with aging. However, the concept that asthma can affect older individuals has been largely denied in the past. In clinical practice, asthma that occurs in the most advanced ages is often diagnosed as COPD, thus leading to undertreatment or improper treatment. The heterogeneity of clinical and functional presentation of geriatric asthma, including the partial loss of reversibility and of the allergic component, contributes to this misconception. A large body of evidence has accumulated demonstrating that the prevalence of asthma in the most advanced ages is similar to that in younger ages. The frequent coexistence of comorbid conditions in older patients compared to younger asthmatics, together with age-associated changes of the human lung, may render the management of asthma a complicated task. The article addresses the main issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in the geriatric age.
AB - Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, and by definition not expected to recover with aging. However, the concept that asthma can affect older individuals has been largely denied in the past. In clinical practice, asthma that occurs in the most advanced ages is often diagnosed as COPD, thus leading to undertreatment or improper treatment. The heterogeneity of clinical and functional presentation of geriatric asthma, including the partial loss of reversibility and of the allergic component, contributes to this misconception. A large body of evidence has accumulated demonstrating that the prevalence of asthma in the most advanced ages is similar to that in younger ages. The frequent coexistence of comorbid conditions in older patients compared to younger asthmatics, together with age-associated changes of the human lung, may render the management of asthma a complicated task. The article addresses the main issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in the geriatric age.
KW - Aging
KW - Airway inflammation
KW - Asthma treatment
KW - Comorbidity
KW - Lung function
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ejim.2014.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ejim.2014.01.004
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24445022
AN - SCOPUS:84899949111
SN - 0953-6205
VL - 25
SP - 336
EP - 342
JO - European Journal of Internal Medicine
JF - European Journal of Internal Medicine
IS - 4
ER -