Mobile clinic improved asthma outcomes among low-income children

ATLANTA — For low–income patients with asthma without regular access to health care, direct care via mobile clinics significantly improved asthma outcomes, according to research presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
In 2009, the University of California, Los Angeles, launched their Breathmobile program, intended to provide care to children at their schools in Long Beach, California, an area in which 33% of pediatric patients live in poverty.....

Read more here: healio.com

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Many Asthma Patients Use Their Inhalers Incorrectly, Research Shows
They hold it wrong, breathe at the wrong time, or forget to shake the device

When it comes to proper inhaler use, mistakes are the norm.
The process of using the medicine-delivery devices requires multiple steps and studies have found that patients make at least one mistake as much as 70% to 90% of the time. The result: only about 7% to 40% of drugs is delivered to the lungs.
Metered-dose inhalers are among the most commonly used devices for treating respiratory diseases. The devices deliver specific amounts of medication to the lungs with each spray breathed in.....

Read more here: wsj.com

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The tricky thing about asthma

In mid-January, health headlines announced that nearly one-third of adults diagnosed with asthma don’t actually have this respiratory condition at all. This announcement appeared everywhere from Fox News Health to the Chicago Tribune.
As a primary care doc, a medical writer, and an asthma sufferer, I was very skeptical of these dramatic announcements, and with good reason. An editorial that accompanied this study provides important perspective that suggests the news headlines were exaggerated and misleading.....

Read more here: health.harvard.edu