Medication Regimens for Managing Stable Asthma.

Guideline-based management of asthma was developed as a means of standardizing asthma therapies and of improving outcomes. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines provide recommendations to care providers about the routine management of asthma. There has been rapid development of new therapies for asthma, specifically with the advent of new drug delivery devices and biologic therapies for severe asthma.

Obesity's effect on asthma extends to diagnostic criteria.

Background: The use of inflammatory biomarkers to delineate the type of lung inflammation present in asthmatic subjects is increasingly common. However, the effect of obesity on these markers is unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the effect of obesity on conventional markers of inflammation in asthmatic subjects.

Factors associated with substance use among orphaned and non-orphaned youth in South Africa.

Substance use is increasing among youth in South Africa, and may be contributing to transmission of HIV. As parental death often leaves youth with altered emotional and physical resources, substance use may be greater among orphaned adolescents. Utilizing data from a household survey of 15-24 year old South Africans (n = 11,904), multivariable models were fitted to examine the association of factors from five domains with alcohol and drug use, and to compare substance use among orphaned versus non-orphaned youth.