Adherence to medication crucial to manage asthma, warn doctors

Pune: Many people with asthma tend to discontinue their medication once the symptoms subside. But remaining free of symptoms does not actually mean they're free of asthma, experts cautioned a day ahead of World Asthma Day on Tuesday.
"One of the biggest challenges to the management of asthma is adherence to the right treatment regimen. People discontinue medicines once they start feeling a little better, which is wrong," chest physician Nitin Abhyankar said.
Elaborating, Abhyankar said, "This may result in aggravation of the disease and chances are that symptoms may flare up with double the severity.Always, consult a doctor before taking such steps."
Commenting on the current scenario of asthma, paediatric asthma specialist Barnali Bhattacharya said, "Every day I consult 10 -15 patients that require consultation not only for the disease but for continuing the medicine. Adherence to asthma medication regime is poor and tends to falter after a few months in children and adults, the rate of non-adherence is around 70%."
There are many reasons why patients stop using their inhaler. These include unnecessary concerns about costof medication, side effects, myths about inhalers and social stigma. There are also psychological barriers which lead to inhibitions such as dissatisfaction with healthcare professionals, inappropriate expectations, anger about the condition, underestimation of the severity of the condition and a casual attitude towards health.
"The need of the hour is to overcome barriers and taboos and understand the importance of inhalation therapy and adhere to it," said Bhattacharya, who is also chairperson of the respiratory ailments of Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), Pune branch.
Bronchial asthma is the most common chronic disorder of childhood.
Globally, there are about 150 million asthmatics, of which 50% are children. In India, nearly 5-8% of children suffer from asthma. However, this disease often remains under-diagnosed and under-treated.
"The most common symptom in a child with asthma is recurrent episodes of cough, which is mainly in the early morning, aggravates on running, laughing and crying. This cough does not respond to cough syrups. If not treated, patients can be breathless and some episodes may be fatal," said paediatrician Jayant Joshi, president of the Pune chapter of IAP.