Patients with bronchial asthma- Purview of patient condition

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, imposing a huge burden on the patient, their family and society. It is a worldwide disease with variable expression between countries and between different populations in a country. There is evidence that its prevalence has increased considerably over the last two decades and is still increasing, despite there being some indications that the increase in prevalence may have plateau in some countries in the last few years. Better understanding of the natural course of asthma and improved asthma control can lead to a decreased burden on the patient, their family and society. The burden of asthma consists mainly of a decreased quality of life for the patient and their family, as well as high costs for society; the healthcare expenditures for asthma in developed countries are 1–2% of the total healthcare costs. Although the association between asthma and psychosocial factors has long been recognised, it is only in the last decade that the impact of coexisting asthma and depression has become the focus of considerable research interest. However, the findings so far have been confusing and often contradictory. This paper sets out a review of the literature to date, including suggestions for future research. Some positive results were described with homeopathy in good-quality trials in rhinitis, but a number of negative studies were also found. Therefore it is not possible to provide evidence-based recommendations for homeopathy in the treatment of allergic rhinitis, and further trials are needed. A limited number of studies of herbal remedies showed some efficacy in rhinitis and asthma, but the studies were too few to make recommendations. There are also unresolved safety concerns. Therapeutic efficacy of complementary-alternative treatments for rhinitis and asthma is not supported by currently available evidence. The main findings from this review included: (a) Asthma and its impact on individual well being (b) Prevalence of asthma across the globe (c) Prevalence of asthma in India (d) Quality of Life in patients with Asthma (e) Measuring Quality of Life in Patients with Asthma (f) Measuring Asthma Control (g) Relevance of Asthma Quality of life Questionnaire in India .