Different definitions of Asthma??

Okay so after reading some posts I am a little confused as to the way people are defining their Asthma. I have been Asthmatic most of my life, however 6 months ago my GP told me it had become 'acute' and that I had COPD as well. Others on here are referring to 'severe or brittle' .... can someone explain the difference to me?

[Skee-skee]

There are no real definitions for mild, moderate, severe asthma. I think it is difficult to make set definitions, as what would people be classified on, amount of treatment, symptoms or number of visits to A&E or hospital admissions. Brittle asthma has a set definition which I've copied an pasted from an old thread. The term is over used by patients and (some) doctors. Brittle asthma is generally diagnosed after lots of testing at a specialist centre.

Brittle Asthma is a specific phenotype of asthma with the following definition:

Since 1977, the term brittle asthma has been used in different ways by different physicians, leading to some confusion over whether such a group is truly separable from other patients at the severe end of the asthma spectrum. In order to try and clarify this area we have suggested a classification of brittle asthma into two types; a feature of both types being a susceptibility to repeated severe attacks resulting in hospital admission.

Type 1

Patients who consistently demonstrate wide peak flow variation (greater than 40% diurnal variation for at least 50% of days), despite maximal medical therapy including at least 1500 µg/day of inhaled beclomethasone or equivalent, are classified as having type 1 brittle asthma.

Type 2

Patients with type 2 brittle asthma appear to be well controlled between attacks which are often sudden in onset (occurring within minutes) and are associated with loss of or disturbed consciousness on at least one occasion.

Hope this is helps a bit. Personally I would just describe my asthma as 'difficult'. You might also hear the term 'difficult asthma' and some hospitals have 'difficult asthma' clinics. There isn't really a definition for difficult asthma either.

Bryony

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In addition to Bryony's post

""Acute"" asthma refers to an exacerbation or asthma attack. Generally in medicine the term acute refers to something fairly short term, with long term conditions the more well known term""chronic"" is used.

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The problem with looking for definitions when it comes to Asthma is that it is so incredibly variable and subjective. What may feel like severe asthma to one, may seem like mild or moderate to another and i think that terms like ""Brittle"", ""Chronic"" and ""Acute"" are thrown about way too much without any sort of boundaries as to what they mean.

As before mentioned about Brittle Asthma, it is defined by the the 2 types.

Acute asthma, I was lead to believe that that was when you are in an attack situation.

Chronic, well this again, I was told was the feeling of your asthma kicking off on a regular basis.

Sorry I can't be of more help

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Thanks

Thanks for the replies, maybe my Doc is old fashioned, when he tried explaining it to me, he kept saying that my Asthma has got progressively worse and my lung capacity was now at 64% on a good day, but then went on to say, your Asthma is now classed as 'acute' and you will need to carry steroids at all times. I have had 5 attacks of chest infections needing steroids in as many months, do you think I should ask for a referral to a specialist?