Perhaps because we’ve come to take technological marvels like cellphones and virtual assistants for granted, the public as a whole might be surprised at what modern medicine can’t do — yet, at least.
Take asthma. Some people might assume that it can be cured.
While that’s not the case, we do have excellent treatment regimens that can keep symptoms well-controlled in the vast majority of people who are living with the condition.
And yet, for 65.6 per cent of Canadians with active asthma, the chronic lung disease is uncontrolled.
There are likely a number of reasons for that. One contributing factor: some people may not realize that having to use a rescue inhaler more than three times a week, or coughing or wheezing on most days of the week are indicators asthma isn’t adequately controlled.
You can read more about treating asthma, including advances in treatments for severe disease in this Good Times Reader’s Question column from September 2019: Can Asthma Be Cured?
My heartfelt thanks to the interviewees who so generously shared their time and expertise:
- Dr. Andrea Gershon, a respirologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute; senior core scientist, lung health lead at ICES, and associate professor at the University of Toronto.
- Dr. Parmeswaran Nair, the Frederick E. Hargreave Teva Innovation Chair in Airway Disease and professor of medicine in McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, and a staff respirologist and respirology researcher with the Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, in Hamilton, Ont.
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Image by mohamed Hassan Courtesy of Pixabay