Is Your Asthma e-Asthma? New Medicine!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:41 — 3.5MB)
* e-Asthma is category of severe asthma
* Patients with e-Asthma have difficulty getting asthma control with usual treatment
* e-Asthma responds well to a new type of injected medicine
* In such patients, this new medicine can decrease their asthma attacks and allow them to use less oral steroid.
e-Asthma is a type of severe asthma that responds well to a new kind of control medicine that you inject under skin, usually monthly.
Severe Asthma means:
- You’ve been on a high dose of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a long-acting bronchodilator or theophylline for in the past year; and/or
- You’ve been treated with steroids (like Prednisone) by mouth for more than half of the past year.
Wondering what “high dose” ICS means?
Definition of high dose* | ||
ICS | Age 6 – 12 years | Age > 12 yrs |
Beclomethasone (Qvar) | ≥ 320 mcg/day | ≥ 1000 mcg/day |
Budesonide (Pulmicort) | ≥ 800 mcg/day | ≥ 1600 mcg/day |
Ciclesonide (Alvesco) | ≥ 160 mcg/day | ≥ 320 mcg/day |
Fluticasone (Flovent) | ≥ 500 mcg/day | ≥ 1000 mcg/day |
Mometasone (Asmanex) | ≥ 500 mcg/day | ≥ 800 mcg/day |
*European Respiratory Society: Eur Respir J Feb 2014 43:343-373 |
This new type of injectable asthma medicine has been shown to dramatically:
1. Reduce the number of asthma attacks you will have
2. Reduce how much oral steroid (like Prednisone) and ICS you need to stay controlled.
How do we know if your asthma is the type that will respond to this medicine? You would be likely to get a good response to this new medicine if:
- Your eosinophils are elevated in your bloodstream, and
- Your allergy testing shows that you are triggered by seasonal allergens.
So, let’s review:
If
You have been on high dose ICS (see above) or oral steroid for more than half of the year,
AND
You have skin allergy tests that show a problem
THEN
I would recommend having your blood drawn to measure your eosinophil count.
If your eosinophil count is elevated (35-700 IU/mL), you would be a good candidate to try this new type of medicine.
What medications would be considered?
Here is a list of subcutaneous medications that can be ordered for e-Asthma:
Omallzumab (Xolair) injected every 2 or 4 weeks depending on your eosinophil count and age
Dupilumab (Dupixent) injected every 2 weeks
Mepolizumab (Nucala) injected every 4 weeks
Benralizumab (Fasenra) injected every 4 weeks for 3 doses, then every 8 weeks.
Tezepelumab (Tezspire) injected every 4 weeks. This medicine does not require any history of elevated eosinophils or prior testing for allergic asthma.
These medications are quite new and it will take some time for general practitioners to become educated about prescribing them.
But, they are available RIGHT NOW and if you are suffering from severe asthma, they could be a really good solution for getting your severe asthma under control.
Complete the subscription form on the right if you’d like to get an email when I post a new podcast and blog entry.
Remember our hashtag: #asthmacarenow! And keep Breathing Easy!
#asthmacontrolnow
#telemedicineasthmacare
#backpocketasthmadoc
#asthmaactionplan
#asthmacontroltest
#asthmacontroller
#rescueinhaler
#asthmacovid19
#childrenandasthma
#eprescription
#easthma
#peakexpiratoryflow
#peakflowmeter
#asthmaniac
All Posts
- Asthma Proof Your Home: Identify the Hot Spots
- Navigating Asthmaniac.com!
- Climate Change: How It Can Affect People with Allergies and Asthma
- How Can Asthmaniac Address Your Asthma Concerns?
- High-Deductible Health Plan? Online Asthma Is Perfect!
- No Insurance? Asthmaniac Will Help You!
- Is Your Asthma e-Asthma? New Medicine!
- Asthma Follow Up Care: Why You Need It!
- NEVER run Out of Asthma Inhaler Medicine!
- Asthmaniac Uses ePrescriptions for Your Medicine!
- Asthma Management Guidelines 2020 Focused Update: What’s In It For You?
- Asthma Rescue Inhalers Are Crucial in Asthma Control!
- Do You Need an Asthma Controller Medication?
- What is an MDI Spacer and Why Do You Need One?
- Children and Asthma: Different from Adult Asthma?
- Asthma and COVID19: Breathing Easy during a Pandemic
- Peak Expiratory Flow Rate: How We Measure and Why?
- Asthma Action Plan: Personalized Just For You!
- Asthma Control Test Score: How We Use It
- Asthmaniac Blog
Asthma Proof Your Home: Identify the Hot Spots
If you have asthma, it's important to asthma-proof your home. This means identifying and removing asthma triggers from your environment. Many people don't know how to asthma-proof their homes, but it's not difficult. In this blog post, we will discuss how...
Navigating Asthmaniac.com!
Navigating Asthmaniac to Find Your Best Asthma Control Asthmaniac.com is a fully digital asthma clinic designed to deliver physician consultation, disease assessment, patient education, medical refills, and follow-up care. This is different than making an...
Climate Change: How It Can Affect People with Allergies and Asthma
According to the World Health Organization, climate change is one of the biggest global health threats of this century. Many people don't realize that climate change can also affect those with allergies and asthma. Rising temperatures, increased air pollution, and...
How Can Asthmaniac Address Your Asthma Concerns?
Asthma challenges for Patients Asthma as a disease is not evenly spread across the U.S. There are definitely hotspots as shown in this study: https://www.aafa.org/asthma-capitals/ Geography doesn’t change the basic problem in the lungs. How do we find out the biggest...
High-Deductible Health Plan? Online Asthma Is Perfect!
High Deductible? Asthmaniac Is Best Value! ✓ You have a Health Insurance Policy ✘ But, it has a high deductible ???? Asthmaniac was made for you! ???? Affordable $50 doctor visits ✓ State-of-the-Art Asthma Care ✓ All online! ...
No Insurance? Asthmaniac Will Help You!
No Insurance is Not a Problem at Asthmaniac! ⇨ Active asthma ???? Asthmaniac was made for you! ???? Affordable $50 doctor visits ✓ State-of-the-Art Asthma Care ???? All online! No Insurance = No Problem I mean it! I don’t care that you don’t have...