Asthma ICU hospital care declines

An analysis of 30 years of life-threatening asthma cases at a Texas hospital found annual admissions dropped 74 percent, researchers say. Lead author Dr. Jay I. Peters, professor and chief of pulmonary diseases at the University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, and colleagues reviewed cases at University Hospital from 1980 to 2010. The research team found 227 patients were admitted to the medical intensive care unit with 280 episodes of status asthmaticus over the three decades, with only one death. "The main reason for the decline in cases is that more of our patients are taking their controller medications such as inhaled corticosteroids, which reduce the amount of inflammation in the airways," Peters said in a statement. In a separate study of 1,000 children and adults, 70 percent of asthma patients reported routinely taking their corticosteroids, Peters said. "Studies show if you use your corticosteroid at least 11 months out of the year your risk of dying from asthma comes down exponentially," Peters said. "Many times asthmatics don't comply because they feel fairly good on a daily basis, but the steroids reduce the risk of exacerbations and death." The study is at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22188845.