Annotation
The book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Knowledge concerning underlying mechanisms and the subsequent consequences of the more severe end of the disease spectrum of asthma has been lagging behind. This book will redress the balance.



From the Publisher
Knowledge concerning underlying mechanisms and the subsequent consequences of the more severe end of the disease spectrum of asthma has been lagging behind This book will redress the balance


From The Critics
New England Journal of Medicine
With this useful book as a guide, specialists and general readers will be well informed about the current clinical state of affairs and the advances that can be expected from further studies of asthma and particularly of its difficult aspects.

Sumita Khatri
This text offers a collection of topics encountered in the care of patients who have asthma that is difficult to control. International experts in their field have contributed individual chapters which comprehensively review all aspects of the disease, from clinical syndromes to immunopathogenesis and treatment. The editors wish to provide a valuable tool to those involved in the research or treatment of asthma. The audience includes pulmonologists, allergists, pediatricians, and immunopharmacologists. To provide such a convenient, comprehensive source that is easy to follow is a worthwhile undertaking because of the burgeoning evidence regarding the pathogenesis of asthma as an immunologic and multifactorial disease. This complete reference is valuable not only to the practitioner who will use this as a tool to customize and justify treatment plans for difficult asthmatics, but also to those involved in asthma research. Readers will gain a better understanding of airway hyper-responsiveness and remodeling, current treatment of difficult asthmatic patients, and techniques to reduce exacerbating factors, to maximize medical therapies, and to utilize immunosuppressive regimens. The editors have backgrounds in immunopharmacology, allergy and immunology, and respiratory pathophysiology, and they bring together key disciplines that are necessary to manage this disease. The authors of the various chapters are also well established in the field and have often been involved in clinical studies and basic research pertaining to those areas. This is an easy to read compendium of chapters from international experts in the field. Pathophysiology of asthma as well as exacerbating factors arereviewed and updated, and subsets of asthma such as occupational, drug-induced, and nocturnal asthma are highlighted and addressed. Other sections detail the treatment of difficult asthma, the mechanisms of glucocorticoid action in asthma, as well as alternative and potential future therapies for this subset of patients. This book is a useful adjunct to the library of anyone treating asthma. The frustrations that can occur while managing this disease can be somewhat counteracted by better understanding the multifactorial and immunopathologic basis of disease. This can perhaps be translated into better communication with patients suffering from this condition, so that in turn, their comprehension, and their rapport and relationship with the physician, and possibly even compliance, can improve.

Doody Review Services
Reviewer: Sumita Khatri, MD (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)
Description: This text offers a collection of topics encountered in the care of patients who have asthma that is difficult to control. International experts in their field have contributed individual chapters which comprehensively review all aspects of the disease, from clinical syndromes to immunopathogenesis and treatment.
Purpose: The editors wish to provide a valuable tool to those involved in the research or treatment of asthma. The audience includes pulmonologists, allergists, pediatricians, and immunopharmacologists. To provide such a convenient, comprehensive source that is easy to follow is a worthwhile undertaking because of the burgeoning evidence regarding the pathogenesis of asthma as an immunologic and multifactorial disease.
Audience: This complete reference is valuable not only to the practitioner who will use this as a tool to customize and justify treatment plans for difficult asthmatics, but also to those involved in asthma research. Readers will gain a better understanding of airway hyper-responsiveness and remodeling, current treatment of difficult asthmatic patients, and techniques to reduce exacerbating factors, to maximize medical therapies, and to utilize immunosuppressive regimens. The editors have backgrounds in immunopharmacology, allergy and immunology, and respiratory pathophysiology, and they bring together key disciplines that are necessary to manage this disease. The authors of the various chapters are also well established in the field and have often been involved in clinical studies and basic research pertaining to those areas.
Features: This is an easy to read compendium of chapters from international experts in the field. Pathophysiology of asthma as well as exacerbating factors are reviewed and updated, and subsets of asthma such as occupational, drug-induced, and nocturnal asthma are highlighted and addressed. Other sections detail the treatment of difficult asthma, the mechanisms of glucocorticoid action in asthma, as well as alternative and potential future therapies for this subset of patients.
Assessment: This book is a useful adjunct to the library of anyone treating asthma. The frustrations that can occur while managing this disease can be somewhat counteracted by better understanding the multifactorial and immunopathologic basis of disease. This can perhaps be translated into better communication with patients suffering from this condition, so that in turn, their comprehension, and their rapport and relationship with the physician, and possibly even compliance, can improve.

Accreditation
Holgate, Stephen T., MD, DSc, FRCP (Univ of Southampton); Boushey, Homer A., MD (UCSF); Fabbri, Leonardo M., MD (Univ of Ferrara, Italy)