Latest recommendations

The main pharmacological treatments for managing asthma aim to reduce inflammation and increase bronchodilation.

Traditionally, two separate inhaled drug treatments have generally been used – an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) to reduce inflammation and a drug to increase bronchodilation (usually a SABA).

The new NICE/BTS/SIGN guidance now recommends a SABA-free pathway to treatment, combining licensed ICS and formoterol as an AIR or MART regimen to solve this problem.

This is a major change from previous practice and, over time, will become the ‘new normal’ in asthma management.