Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2015 Sep;7(5):431-439. 10.4168/aair.2015.7.5.431.

Challenges in the Management of Asthma in the Elderly

• Song WJ
• Cho SH

• KMID: 2147951
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aair.2015.7.5.431

Abstract

Recent literature has emphasized the clinical and socio-epidemiological significance of asthma in the elderly. However, why the disease burden remains high in this group is unclear. Elderly subjects usually have multiple chronic illnesses, and the role played by comorbidities in the context of asthma has been underappreciated. This review aims to summarize the literature associations between comorbidities and asthma in elderly patients. In addition, we discuss patient management issues.

Keyword

Asthma; elderly; comorbidity; management

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Asthma*
Chronic Disease
Comorbidity
Humans

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Schematic presentation for the epidemiology of asthma in the elderly. Lines indicate the aged-related changes in the prevalence; gray line, childhood-onset asthma; blue line, airway hyperresponsiveness; and red line, late-onset adult asthma. Adult asthma prevalence was depicted based on previous publications.2531 AHR, airway hyperresponsiveness; SE-IgE, staphylococcal enterotoxin IgE.

• 

  Fig. 2 Management issues of asthma in the elderly. Arrows with lines indicate the hypothetical relationships between aging, asthma, comorbidity, and other issues. Red line, effects of comorbidity; blue line, effects of aging-related changes; and dotted black line, effects of other management issues.

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