Stepping down from combination asthma therapy: The predictors of outcome.

Background: Stepping down from combination asthma therapy (inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) + long-acting β2 agonists (LABA)) is often avoided due to fear of exacerbations, which may lead to overmedication in well-controlled asthma. A better knowledge about the predictors of outcome might encourage clinicians to start stepping down more often than previously.

Methods: In 55 subjects with well controlled asthma and combination therapy, LABAs were discontinued first, followed by ICS dose halving, and then cessation, in six weeks' intervals.

Mild obstructive sleep apnea does not modulate baroreflex sensitivity in adult patients.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic and progressive disease. OSA is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, the risk being more frequently encountered with severe degrees of OSA. Increased sympathetic activation and impaired cardiac autonomic control as reflected by depressed baroreceptor reflex sensitivity (BRS) are possible mechanisms involved in the cardiovascular complications of OSA.

Amount of weight loss or gain influences the severity of respiratory events in sleep apnea.

Severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is estimated based on respiratory events per hour [i.e., apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)].

Weight loss alters severity of individual nocturnal respiratory events depending on sleeping position.

Weight loss is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The mechanisms of how weight loss affects nocturnal breathing are not fully understood. The severity of OSA is currently estimated by the number of respiratory events per hour of sleep (i.

The impact of weight reduction in the prevention of the progression of obstructive sleep apnea: an explanatory analysis of a 5-year observational follow-up trial.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic progressive disease, and it is well-documented that severe OSA is associated with an increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Weight reduction has been shown to improve OSA; however, we need further evidence to determine if it may prevent the progression of OSA in the long term. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of weight change during a 5-year observational follow-up of an original 1-year randomized controlled trial.