GINA 2019 - step 1 and 2 treatment in asthma: Updates with reasons behind

Asthma is a heterogeneous lung disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation. It was suggested that patients with mild asthma symptoms could be managed with as-needed short-acting β2-agonists (SABA) in previous years. In 2019, GINA made a radical change and recommended that SABA should not be used as monotherapy in patients with mild asthma, but instead as-needed low-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-formoterol or "additional low-dose ICS taken whenever SABA is taken" treatments should be commenced to relieve and control symptoms. The approach emerged in the light of the studies that indicate the increased risk of severe exacerbation and asthma-related death due to overuse of SABA. The present article aimed to enlighten the updates in GINA 2019 step 1 and 2 treatment, the grounds for these updates with the supportive studies.