Airway hyperresponsiveness: therapeutic implications.

In summary, this article has reviewed the importance of airway inflammation in the pathogenesis of asthma. Inflammatory triggering factors (allergen, low molecular weight sensitizing chemicals, viral URTI) are more important in the pathogenesis of asthma than the bronchospastic triggering factors. Likewise, anti-inflammatory treatment strategies (environmental control, sodium cromoglycate, steroids) are more important in the long-term control of asthma than are the purely bronchodilator strategies.