Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Sep;99(5):953-67.
doi: 10.1016/j.mcna.2015.05.007.

Primary Care of the Patient with Asthma

Michael J Lenaeus  1 , Jan Hirschmann  2
Affiliations
Review

Primary Care of the Patient with Asthma

Michael J Lenaeus et al. Med Clin North Am. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Obstructive lung disease includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Because a previous issue of Medical Clinics of North America (2012;96[4]) was devoted to COPD, this article focuses on asthma in adults, and addresses some topics about COPD not addressed previously. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease marked by variable airflow obstruction and bronchial hyperreactivity. Onset is most common in early childhood, although many people develop asthma later in life. Adult-onset asthma presents a particular challenge in the primary care clinic because of incomplete understanding of the disorder, underreporting of symptoms, underdiagnosis, inadequate treatment, and high rate of comorbidity.

Keywords: Adult-onset asthma; Asthma; Asthma exacerbation; COPD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Substances