6533b831fe1ef96bd1298ec9

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Tiotropium add-on therapy reduces seasonal peaks of asthma worsening in adults with symptomatic severe asthma

subject

description

Despite the use of preferred controller therapies (including inhaled corticosteroids [ICS] with or without additional long-acting β2-agonists [LABAs]), a large proportion of patients with asthma have poor disease control, leaving them at risk of recurring symptoms and episodes of asthma exacerbations and worsening [1, 2]. Such problems can be triggered by many different environmental factors including pollutants, respiratory infections or allergens [3]. They may occur sporadically, but are often determined by seasons, mirroring seasonal patterns of allergen exposure and prevalence of respiratory viral infection [3, 4]. They can cause reduced quality of life, increase asthma burden [2, 3], and have economic and societal impacts, such as increased absenteeism in school-age children, reduced work productivity and missed workdays in adults [5]. It is therefore important to choose an appropriate asthma treatment to achieve good symptom control and minimise the risk of exacerbations and worsening [2]. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: Dr. Fitzgerald reports grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, during the conduct of the study; personal fees and grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Sanofi-Regeneron, Circassia and Teva; and grants from GlaxoSmithKline, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Buhl reports grants to Mainz University and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Roche, as well as personal fees from AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Cipla and Teva, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Casale reports other from AstraZeneca, Sanofi/Roche and Novartis, personal fees and other from Genentech, and grants from AstraZeneca, Sanofi/Roche, Genentech and Novartis, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Jugovic is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim. Conflict of interest: Dr. Zaremba-Pechmann has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Halpin reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Chiesi and Pfizer, and grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, outside the submitted work.