Knock the wind out of asthma with tips from Dr Denitza Blagev, a pulmonologist and intensivist who currently serves as Director for the Schmidt Chest Clinic at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. We simplify the approach to diagnosis, spirometry, patient counseling, choice of agent, stepwise therapy, and de-escalation...plus, a little myth busting. Special thanks to Dr Cyrus Askin for writing and producing this episode and to Dr Bryan Brown for his wonderful infographics. Full show notes available at http://thecurbsiders.com/podcast Join our mailing list and receive a PDF copy of our show notes every Monday. Rate us on iTunes, recommend a guest or topic and give feedback at thecurbsiders@gmail.com.  Time Stamps 00:00 Disclaimer 00:32 Intro 01:44 Picks of the week 04:38 Guest bio 06:20 Getting to know our guest 11:50 Clinical case and approach to the patient with dyspnea 16:38 How to explain asthma to a patient 17:22 Are PFTs needed for diagnosis and management of asthma? 18:44 Methacholine challenge and who needs one 21:15 Is imaging needed? 22:09 Typical PFT patterns in asthma 24:23 Utility and use of peak expiratory flows 25:45 Cough variant asthma 26:34 Physical exam in patient with asthma 27:45 Lab workup 29:07 Initial treatment and inhaler teaching 33:10 Stepwise therapy for asthma 37:27 De-escalation of therapy 39:18 Levalbuterol versus albuterol 40:20 Asthma action plans 43:06 Who needs a sputum sample 45:25 How to treat asthma exacerbations 48:05 Asthma therapy for hospitalized patients 51:10 Azithromycin and asthma 53:40 Who needs a referral 55:24 Are beta blockers safe in asthma? 56:08 Anticholinergic therapy and asthma 57:26 Take home points 58:58 Paul tells a story about asthma 59:55 Outro  Tags: asthma, inhaler, teaching, eosinophilia, albuterol, cough, variant, methacholine, spirometry, xray, pft, peak, flow, fev1, sputum, step, laba, lama, beta, agonist, azithromycin, symptoms, steroids, assistant, care, education, doctor, family, foam, foamed, health, hospitalist, hospital, internal, internist, nurse, meded, medical, medicine, practitioner, professional, primary, physician, resident, student