Most adults who have mild or moderate asthma are told to use their inhalers twice daily, even if they don't have symptoms. The medicine in those compressed-air inhalers are corticosteroids, which open a person's airways and decrease mucus so it's easier to breathe. Inhaled corticosteroids are the most common and the most effective form of therapy for asthma sufferers.
有轻度或中度哮喘的大多数成年人即使没有病症，也被叮嘱每天要使用呼吸器2次。 那些压缩空气呼吸器中的药物是皮质类固醇,它会打开一个人的肺气道并减少粘液,使人更容易呼吸。 皮质类固醇呼吸器对哮喘患者来说是最常见及最有效的治疗方式。
In an asthma attack, the airways of the lungs become inflamed and swollen. That can be triggered by a wide range of factors, some genetic, some environmental. Dust, air pollution or smoke can set off an asthma attack. Falling autumn leaves and other seasonal changes that put fine debris in the air can also trigger an attack.
哮喘发作会导致肺气道发炎并肿胀。 这可以由各种各样的因素引起,比如基因,环境因素等。 如灰尘,空气污染或者烟都可以引发哮喘发作。 而秋天落叶和其他季节更替使空气中布满颗粒也可以引起发作。
Frank Grizzaffi knows this routine well. “There was a regime that I was supposed to follow, it was two puffs in the morning and two puffs in the evening,” Grizzaffi said.
弗兰克·格里萨法立深谙这一规律。 “我应该遵守一种生活规律, 就是早上吸2次，晚上吸2次。”格里萨法立说道。
That was before Grizzaffi participated in a study that involved ten academic centers and more than 300 adults with mild to moderate asthma. Doctors evaluated the patients and determined the lowest possible dose of medication that would control their asthma.
这是格里萨法立参加一项涉及10个学术中心，超过患有轻度至中度哮喘300名成年人在内参加的研究之前曾说过的话。 医生对患者进行评估并确定控制他们哮喘药物的最低剂量。
Dr. William Calhoun led the study. “The amount of corticosteroid that a patient received during the trial was dependent upon the amount of symptoms they had. When they had fewer symptoms they got less steroid when they had more symptoms they got more steroid,” Calhoun said.
威廉·卡尔霍恩博士领导这项研究。 “在试验期间病患接受皮质类固醇的剂量依他们的症状而定。 如果症状较轻,就会使用少量皮质类固醇，相反用量则会加大。”卡尔霍恩说道。
After adjusting medication, doctors looked at three different ways of treating the patients. One group received their adjusted dose of steroids and took them as usual. Another group had their steroid levels adjusted after taking sophisticated breath tests for asthma and a third group was told to use inhalers only when their symptoms flared up.
在调整药物后,医生们审视对待病人三种不同的方法。 一组接受调整过剂量的类固醇并且像往常一样使用。 另一组在进行了复杂的呼吸测试后类固醇水平经过调整,而第三组被告知只有当症状突发才可以使用呼吸器。
What the researchers found was that this last group did just as well as the other two. The major difference was the last group used only half as much medication.
而研究人员发现,最后这一组和另外两组一样。 主要的区别是最后一组只用了一半的药物。
“The symptoms-based arm (group) resulted in a reduced use of inhaled corticosteroids, a 50 percent reduction. It also resulted in a reduction in exacerbation in the autumn, a time when exacerbation are typically high and it also resulted in a reduction in absenteeism from school or work,” Calhoun said.
“分组测试结果减少了皮质类固醇的使用,减少量达到50%。 它还导致在秋天恶化的减少,而秋天这一季节通常病发很高而且还导致学校或工作旷工的减少。”卡尔霍恩说道。
Under his doctor's care, Frank Grizzaffi no longer follows his old regimen. “I'll take one puff in the morning and that usually takes care of it the rest of the day. I feel great, I feel really good,” Grizzaffi said.
在他医生的护理下,弗兰克·格里萨法立不再遵从他的旧方案。 “我在早晨吸一吹,通常就可以度过这一天了。 我感觉很好,我感觉真的非常很好。” 格里萨法立说道。
Dr. Calhoun advises patients with mild to moderate asthma to check with their doctors to see if this strategy might work for them. The study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
卡尔霍恩博士建议轻度至中度哮喘患者接受医生的检查以看看这种方法是否会对他们可行。 该研究已经发表于《美国医学协会杂志》上。
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