PG3 - Asthma: natural history, risk factors and overall management

Postgraduate Course
Chairs: E. Bel (Leiden, The Netherlands), A. Woodcock (Manchester, United Kingdom)
Aims: This is the third course in a three-year postgraduate core curriculum covering the main issues on asthma from pathogenetics to current treatment strategies. The aims of this third module in the series are:
• to describe the key risk factors and events involved in the development of asthma in children, and to understand the principles behind the development and natural progression of asthma in adulthood;
• to review how allergens interact with the human immune system, and discuss the causal relationship between inhaled allergen exposure and asthma;
• to define the role of infective agents in the pathophysiology of asthma, and to understand the biological mechanisms underlying the interaction between infective agents and airway inflammation;
• to define the goals and importance of asthma education, and to identify the resources and strategies that enhance optimal outcomes.

Natural history of asthma from childhood to adulthood E. von Mutius (Munich, Germany)
How important are allergens and do avoidance measures work? T. Platts-Mills (Charlottesville, United States of America)
The role of viral and bacterial infections in asthma severity S. L. Johnston (London, United Kingdom)
Asthma and community care O. C. P. Van Schayck (Maastricht, The Netherlands)