Expert panel's recommendations emphasize asthma control
TUESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDayNews) -- Inadequate control of asthma is a risk to a pregnant woman and her fetus, and most asthma medications are safe to use during pregnancy, say updated guidelines that emphasize asthma control in pregnant women.
The recommendations were released Tuesday by a U.S. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) expert panel.
"The NAEPP expert panel's review of the evidence concludes that it is safer for pregnant women with asthma to be treated with asthma medications than for them to have asthma symptoms and exacerbations," Dr. Barbara Alving, acting director of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said in a prepared statement.
"The guidelines also recommend that obstetric care providers become part of the patient's asthma management team to help ensure that the patient's asthma is evaluated frequently and her care plan is adjusted as needed to help her have a healthy pregnancy," Alving said.
The updated guidelines appear in the January issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.
It's estimated that asthma affects up to 8 percent of pregnant women. That makes it potentially the most common serious medical problem to complicate pregnancy. The condition becomes worse in about 30 percent of pregnant asthma patients.
The updated guidelines include recommendations for a step-by-step approach for treatment based on asthma severity and a summary of gestational safety data for specific asthma drugs. They also include recommendations for monitoring asthma control during pregnancy so necessary treatment adjustments can be made to maintain the mother's lung function and ensure the fetus has an adequate oxygen supply.
SOURCE: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, news release, Jan. 11, 2005
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