Asthma Stays With You for Life

By:
in Asthma

A large Canadian study shows that once you’re diagnosed with asthma, you’re likely to be stuck with it for life.

The study tracked almost 614,000 province of Ontario residents who were identified as having asthma in 1993. It followed them for 15 years.

While some patients reported periods of disease inactivity, sometimes for years, most were managing their asthma most of the time.

Data on Asthma for Life

In the 15-year followup, 82.3 percent had active asthma, suggesting they’d have asthma for life.

“A lot of people have asthma and would like to know how their disease will affect them over time,” said study lead author Dr. Andrea Gershon, a respirologist.

“These findings offer insight into the course of asthma activity and support the hypothesis that once a person has asthma, they will continue to have it for life.”

The study was conducted by researchers for the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto. It was published in 2012 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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