The 2020 Asthma Management Guidelines Focused Updates: What They Are & Why They’re Important
For the first time in over a decade, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has released a major update to the clinical practice guidelines around asthma management: the 2020 Focused updates to the Asthma Guidelines. These updates serve an important function as to how specialists approach the diagnosis and management of asthma, and reflect the latest in available science. Here is what you need to know about these important guidelines and why they’re important.
How The 2020 Asthma Management Guidelines Focused Updates Impact You
1. They arm your care providers with the best available scientific information.
The Asthma Management Guidelines Focused Updates use the most recent and best available scientific evidence in a selected topic, like asthma diagnosis and treatment, in order to improve the quality of life for people living with asthma.
2. They empower people who are living with asthma.
The NHLBI partnered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as well as the National Asthma Education Prevention Program (NAEPP) participant organizations, as well as other medical experts, and the public to create a report on six priority topics. This report is designed to make it easier to share information and make decisions with your primary care provider and specialists around your care and treatment plan.
3. They reflect the latest information about asthma.
Over the past decade, there has been a great deal of progress in how we understand the origin of asthma, as well as its evolution over time. In this time, the Food and Drug Administration has also approved several new asthma treatments. This update includes new recommendations on important areas like:
- Intermittent Inhaled Corticosteroid Use
- Long-Acting Muscarinic Antagonists (LAMA) Use
- Indoor Allergen Reduction
- Immunotherapy (Allergy shots or Oral Allergy drops)
- Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) Testing
- Bronchial Thermoplasty
4. They are a critical component of your comprehensive treatment plan.
Once updates to these guidelines are released, your doctor, specialist and other care providers are able to use the information to design the best possible care plan for the management of asthma. This may include:
- Adjusting prescription medications
- Introducing new immunological treatments
- Addressing environmental concerns
- Educating you on how to monitor and managing asthma yourself
- Actively monitoring and adjusting care
Continued Progress In Our Fight To Control Asthma
Our understanding of asthma, allergies and other immunological conditions is constantly growing and evolving, and these focused updates provide specialists and care providers with a powerful tool for improving the quality of life for those suffering with asthma. Because those suffering with immunological conditions are at increased risk for more severe illness from COVID-19, it’s critical that practitioners incorporate these evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care and management plans to their patients.
At Family Allergy Asthma Clinic, we work with asthma and allergy sufferers every day, applying the latest technologies and scientific information to provide accurate diagnosis, early intervention, and evidence-based treatments. If you’re ready to learn how the 2020 Asthma Management Guidelines Focused Update can benefit you, both now during the pandemic and after, reach out to us here.
