Step 5: Your Management Program

Return to Index Step 1: Taking Control of Your Asthma Step 2: What is Asthma?Step 3: Know the Signs Step 4: How Asthma Is Diagnosed Step 5: The Levels of Severity Step 6: Determine Your Goals and Expectations Step 7: Asthma Drugs Step 8: Drug Delivery Devices Step 9: Understand Your Action Plan Step 10: Make "Peak Flow" a Habit!Step 11: Avoid Asthma Triggers Step 12: Visit Your Doctor Regularly Key Points Glossary

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Once the doctor has obtained a detailed medical history, run some tests, and diagnosed you as having asthma, your asthma will be classified. This helps determine the treatment plan. There are four levels of severity:

Mild IntermittentMild PersistentModerate PersistentSevere Persistent

Click the buttons above to see the four levels of asthma severity. Asthma is classified based on how often symptoms occur during the day, how often they occur at night, and spirometry results.

In some cases, your doctor may use "peak flow" measurements to help assess your asthma severity instead of spirometry. Peak flow is a simple method of self monitoring that is described later.

Take note

Regardless of your asthma's classification, any single asthma episode can range from mild to severe. This is true for anyone with asthma.

Review Date: May 25, 2005
Reviewed By: Alan Greene, M.D., F.A.A.P., Department of Pediatrics, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine; Chief Medical Officer, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Jacqueline A. Hart, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Boston, Ma.

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