Asthma is chronic heterogeneous disease, affecting 1-18 % of the population. According WHO Global Burden of Disease Study, 13, 8 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) are lost annually due to asthma, representing 1, 8 % of the total global disease burden. The main economic and social burden falls on difficult-to-control, severe asthma - due to the medications, physician visits, hospitalizations, and cost of OCS side effects.
Difficult-to-control, severe asthma also placed a large physical, mental, emotional burden. Difficult-to-control asthma – multi-factor problem, and investigation of background reasons, biological, patient-dependent or social, connected with government policy, health care system is of high priority.
Comorbidities, modifiable risk factors, incorrect technique of inhalation, suboptimal adherence , deficiencies in continuity between GPs and specialists (not timely referral to a specialist in severe, atypical cases) aggravates it’s course of the disease and makes difficult to achieve good asthma control.
Active interest and research continues - in study of inflammation (special atypical inflammation in late adult onset), particularities of pulmonary function and it’s changes over time, localization of injury in airways in difficult-to-control, severe asthma patients, unsatisfactory response to full-fledged standard therapy.
Allergy, rhinitis, professional asthma, neurological, psychological problems (anxiety and depression), breathing disturbances during sleep – are in sphere of interest of modern asthma management and necessitates attraction of multidisciplinary team with participation of pulmonologists, allergologists, otolaryngologists and other specialists in indicated cases.
Established timely cooperation between GPs and specialists, personalized approach to therapy, allocation of risk factors for disability, death, prediction of adverse outcomes will improve effectiveness of asthma treatment with the fewer side effects.
We hope and expect that the insight the special issue will bring present scientific need, stimulate further research interest and create a platform for future scientific research and will be of interest and useful for GPs and specialists.

Aims and Scope:

1. Difficult-to-control, severe asthma
2. Cooperation between GPs and specialists
3. Inflammation
4. Pulmonary function
5. Comorbidities
6. Asthma management