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Relevance of Allergy in Adult Asthma

  • ALLERGENS (RK BUSH AND JA WOODFOLK, SECTION EDITORS)
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Abstract

Recent studies on asthma have demonstrated multiple phenotypes, based on the clinical characteristics of the disease. With the current interest in personalized medicine, the question arises whether the presence of allergic sensitization has any relevance for these phenotypes and the management of asthma. This review will examine the current knowledge of asthma phenotypes and the impact of atopy on asthma diagnosis and severity in adults. In addition, this review will address whether therapies targeted at the atopic axis help improve asthma outcomes, including lung function indices and exacerbations.

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Sameer K. Mathur has served as a consultant for TEVA, has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health, and served as vice president of the Wisconsin Allergy Society and chair of the AAAAI Asthma and Allergic Diseases in the Elderly Committee.

Ravi K. Viswanathan declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, WI, USA

    Sameer K. Mathur & Ravi K. Viswanathan

  2. William S. Middleton Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA

    Sameer K. Mathur

  3. Division of Allergy, Immunology and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, H4/618 CSC, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, 53792, USA

    Sameer K. Mathur

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  1. Sameer K. Mathur
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  2. Ravi K. Viswanathan
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Correspondence to Sameer K. Mathur.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Allergens

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Mathur, S.K., Viswanathan, R.K. Relevance of Allergy in Adult Asthma. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 14, 437 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-014-0437-5

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