Respiratory and sleep medicine
Asthma
Diagnosis by variable airflow limitation or FeNO, anti-inflammatory reliever first, MART stepping, acute severe asthma and when to refer for biologics.
Tier 1Condition
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Asthma is variable respiratory symptoms plus variable expiratory airflow limitation (or FeNO 40 ppb or more) with no better explanation.
- Australia has one of the highest prevalence rates in the world: about 1 in 9 people. Most deaths are in adults, and many are preventable.
- The 2025 Australian Asthma Handbook (V3.0) and GINA 2026 agree: everyone 12 and over needs an inhaled corticosteroid, and SABA-only treatment is no longer recommended.
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Sources
- Australian Asthma Handbook, Version 3.0AU/NZNational Asthma Council Australia, 2025 (V3.0)
- Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention, 2026 updateGlobal Initiative for Asthma (GINA), 2026
- Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand position statement on acute oxygen use in adults ("Swimming between the flags")AU/NZThoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Respirology), 2022
- PBS Schedule: mepolizumab and omalizumab, uncontrolled severe asthma, Initial 1 restrictions (checked November 2026)AU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026
- Revised ISHAM-ABPA working group clinical practice guidelines for diagnosing, classifying and treating allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis/mycosesEuropean Respiratory Journal (Agarwal et al), 2024
- 2022 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitisAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases (Grayson et al), 2022
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Deploy to Cloudflare on push to main