Guide stresses asthma control during pregnancy

WASHINGTON – Physicians should pay attention to managing asthma in pregnant patients, according to guidelines being released by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program.

Asthma can lead to serious medical problems for mothers and their fetuses, the program with the government’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute warned.

The guidelines, published this week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, urge limiting exposure to asthma triggers and treating conditions that can worsen the respiratory ailment.

Among about 30 percent of women with mild asthma, the illness worsens during pregnancy, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. But the study found that asthma improved in 23 percent of women who initially had moderate or severe asthma.