Overview

Overview

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, becoming more prevalent and more severe in recent years. Asthma causes the airways of the lungs (bronchial tubes) to narrow, the lining of the airways to become inflamed and irritated, causing spasms or swelling, and the cells that line the airways to produce more mucus.

These changes make breathing difficult and cause symptoms, such as cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and excess mucus production.

Why choose Cleveland Clinic for asthma care?

At Cleveland Clinic's Asthma Center, we offer the most advanced diagnostic testing and innovative treatments for adults and children with asthma. Within Cleveland Clinic's Respiratory Institute, the Asthma Center brings together physicians from allergy and immunology, pulmonary and critical care, and sports medicine (for asthma in elite athletes).

For those with asthma and co-existing conditions, such as chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, gastroesophageal reflux, inducible laryngeal obstruction, cataracts, glaucoma or osteoporosis, we also coordinate your care with specialists in gastroenterology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, and speech therapy. Our integrated approach to patient care provides you with state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services and opportunities to try new medications and therapies through clinical trials.

Our asthma services

We offer a full range of clinical services for asthma care, including:

  • Comprehensive consultation services and ongoing care for refractory asthma (poorly-controlled asthma).
  • Evaluation for occupational and environmental asthma.
  • Specialized testing (Spriometry and Exhaled Nitric Oxide) to determine how well your asthma is being controlled.
  • Bronchoprovocation testing, including Methacholine and Mannitol.
  • Highly specialized treatment for asthma, including new and innovative therapies from injections to procedures.
  • Treatment and help to manage other conditions that complicate asthma control.
  • Management plans for newly diagnosed asthma cases and continued care when needed.

Cleveland Clinic's Asthma Center also collaborates with other departments of Cleveland Clinic, including Obstetrics and Gynecology, to educate the public about asthma in pregnancy and the Multicultural Lung Health Center to help address asthma health disparities.

View our treatment outcomes

Our Outcomes offer detailed information and data to help patients and their physicians make informed decisions about treatment for various respiratory issues.

What We Treat

What We Treat

Asthma Overview

Asthma Symptoms, Causes and Triggers

Asthma in Special Populations

Novel Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches

Our physicians have particular expertise in refractory asthma or poorly-controlled asthma. For patients with refractory asthma, the Asthma Center offers innovative diagnostic and treatment services that are at the forefront of asthma care including:

  • Measurement of inflammatory biomarkers in exhaled breath for patients not responding to therapies, and requiring high doses of corticosteroids
  • Bronchoscopic evaluation to identify potential chronic causes of asthma
  • Allergen immunotherapy (allergy shots)
  • Anti-IgE therapy
  • Anti-Interleukin-5 therapies
  • Bronchial thermoplasty: a technique designed to reduce the contractility of airway smooth muscle by applying radiofrequency energy to airway walls in selected individuals
  • Aspirin desensitization: used to develop tolerance to aspirin and similar drugs for patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease
Health Information

Health Information

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, becoming more prevalent and more severe in recent years. Asthma causes the airways of the lungs (bronchial tubes) to narrow, the lining of the airways to become inflamed and irritated, causing spasms or swelling, and the cells that line the airways to produce more mucus. These changes make breathing difficult and cause symptoms, such as cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and excess mucus production.

Learn about symptoms, causes and triggers, diagnostic testing, treatments and management tips for asthma from our Health Library below:

Asthma Overview

Asthma Symptoms, Causes and Triggers

Asthma in Special Populations

Our Doctors

Our Doctors

Appointments & Locations

Appointments & Locations

To make an appointment, please call 216.444.6503.

Virtual Second Opinions

If you cannot travel to Cleveland Clinic, help is available. You can connect with Cleveland Clinic specialists from any location in the world via a phone, tablet, or computer, eliminating the burden of travel time and other obstacles.

If you’re facing a significant medical condition or treatment such as surgery, this program provides virtual access to a Cleveland Clinic physician who will review the diagnosis and treatment plan.

Following a comprehensive evaluation of medical records and labs, you’ll receive an educational second opinion from an expert in their medical condition covering diagnosis, treatment options or alternatives as well as recommendations regarding future therapeutic considerations. You’ll also have the unique opportunity to speak with the physician expert directly to address questions or concerns.

Locations

Resources

Resources

Find additional information on the following helpful links:

American Lung Association

  • Asthma Control Test: Can help you and your healthcare provider determine if your asthma symptoms are well controlled. Sharing your or a family member's score with a healthcare provider may help them determine your treatment.

Asthma Treatment and Management

Using an Inhaler

Asthma Testing

  • Diagnosing Asthma
Research & Clinical Trials

Research & Clinical Trials

Clinical trials (or research studies) help us create the medicine of tomorrow. They provide hope through offering testing of new drugs, new surgical techniques or other treatments before they are widely available.

We can help you access hundreds of clinical trials across all specialty areas. Our new searchable online trials tool makes identifying treatment opportunities easier than ever.

Recommended Research Readings

View helpful research publications on the topic of asthma below:

For Medical Professionals

For Medical Professionals

Patient Referrals

Following a patient evaluation at the Asthma Center, our team provides a timely, specialized report that includes our evaluation, test results and a proposed plan of care. Our specialists may assume care for patients or provide a treatment plan to you and the patient to carry out proposed recommendations.

Our secure online service, Dr.Connect, provides referring physicians access to patient’s treatment progress with streamlined communication from Cleveland Clinic physicians to your office, allowing continued participation in the ongoing care of patients. With the best possible treatment plans and coordinated care, our team approach benefits both the patient and the referring physician.

To refer a patient, call the Asthma Center at 216.444.0582 or the Bronchial Thermoplasty Referral Line at 216.445.6266.

Education

Allergy and Clinical Immunology Fellowships
Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute offers two fellowships in allergy/immunology each year. Fellows will gain experience working in a multi-specialty group practice setting, with a busy outpatient allergy/immunology practice and have the opportunity to do elective rotations in asthma, dermatology, otolaryngology, pulmonary and critical care, radiology, rheumatology, infectious diseases, and more.

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowships
Our pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowships provide board-certified general internists with the tools necessary to care for patients, who have complicated lung diseases and critical illnesses. During the three-year training period, which includes an 18-month core program and 18-month subspecialty track, fellows are exposed to a wide variety of medical problems in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.

CMEs
The Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute offers continuing medical education courses through the Center for Continuing Education. Current CME offerings include:

References

Disease Management Project
Cleveland Clinic publishes an online medical reference, the Disease Management Project, which provides nationally-established treatment guidelines for the most common diseases and conditions

Web Resources