The following is a summary of “Treatable Traits in Asthma: The importance of extrapulmonary traits – GERD, CRSwNP, Atopic Dermatitis, and Depression/Anxiety,” published in the January 2024 issue of Allergy and Immunology by McDonald et al.
The treatable traits approach represents a personalized medicine strategy for the comprehensive management of airway diseases, addressing three key domains: pulmonary, extra-pulmonary, and behavioral/lifestyle/risk factors. This method involves assessing specific traits within these domains and employing targeted treatments to effectively manage them, resulting in a holistic and personalized approach to care.
Asthma, being a heterogeneous and intricate airway disease, often intertwines with various extrapulmonary traits, impacting asthma outcomes and predicting future scenarios. This review advocates for identifying extrapulmonary and behavioral risk factor traits, emphasizing the implementation of targeted therapies for enhanced asthma management. Many extrapulmonary traits also manifest as ‘connected comorbidities,’ coexisting with asthma and influencing its course, and effective treatment interventions can improve both asthma and associated comorbidities, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms.
The exploration of this concept delves into specific treatable traits such as atopic dermatitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), gastroesophageal reflux disease, anxiety, and depression in the context of asthma, elucidating how these traits can be effectively managed through the treatable traits approach.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219824000722