Breathe easier

Sun2Surf: KUALA LUMPUR (April 19, 2007): People with asthma can breathe easier and even cheat "sudden death" from the condition, with Simple Inhaler Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART).
Asthmatics currently have in their possession two asthma control inhalers - one brown and another blue.
The brown inhaler is used in the morning and just before bedtime to prevent inflammatory effects of the disease.
The blue inhaler, which patients carry with them, gives them immediate symptomatic relief from broncho-constriction (narrowed air passage) during an attack but does not treat the underlying inflammation.
"So patients tend to be overly dependent on their blue reliever', which is not proper, as it does not provide good overall control because the inflammation is not kept in check," Prof Dr Richard Loh Li-Cher, consultant respiratory physician at the Penang Medical College, told journalists today.
He said there were also patients who totally ignored the brown inhaler, not using it twice a day as advised by doctors, so long as they are not bothered by a full-blown attack.
An impending full-blown attack actually gives tell-tale warning signs like wheezing and coughing, and turns chronically bothersome over a period of six days.
"It is sad that this six-day window of opportunity is lost and they finally use the blue inhaler to alleviate their condition which may have already turned chronic.
"For some, it may be too late, as their condition could turn morbid and fatal," Loh said.
To avoid such a situation, medical science has introduced SMART - a red three-in-one inhaler which carries a cocktail of medication for daily maintenance, a reliever for use when necessary, and a timed increase in anti-inflammatory therapy to sustain control.
Loh said a real life effectiveness and patient satisfaction study of 22 patients in Malaysia with severe asthma using the SMART approach was undertaken at a local public hospital.
"Lung function and asthma attacks over a three-month period were also appraised via interviews with nurses."
SMART was found to be effective and a safe treatment option for patients with inadequately controlled and moderate to severe asthma.
The results of the study have been peer-evaluated and submitted for publication in the Medical Journal of Malaysia.