ROCHESTER, Minn., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A Mayo Clinic allergist says asthma patients need to demand better control of their asthma symptoms.
James Li, M.D., and his colleagues representing the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology are revising the old classification of asthma patients by disease severity to determine treatment and moving to a new expectation for all asthma patients: excellent symptom control.
"People with asthma should not be satisfied with less than well or completely controlled asthma, said Li. "We want them to know if they are not reaching this goal, they should see their doctors."
The new guidelines for treating asthma were published in the November issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
"It's all about asthmatics' quality of life: waking up in the middle of the night wheezing, constantly using rescue medications, having to excuse themselves from sports teams or needing to leave work due to an attack -- that's no life," said Li.
