Editor’s Note
The 2024 update to the Spanish Guideline for Asthma Management (GEMA 5.4) has been released, featuring new clinical guidance for managing severe asthma and related conditions.
Coinciding with World Asthma Day, the 2024 update of the Spanish Guideline for Asthma Management (GEMA) has been published and is available for free download at www.gemasma.com. This edition includes new features such as the identification of 8 possible scenarios for combination therapy in patients with severe asthma (controlled or not, with or without monoclonal antibodies) and CRSwNP (whether previously operated on or not).
In the treatment chapter, the guide also highlights the description of possible causes of suboptimal response to biological therapy for severe uncontrolled asthma and proposes a rational action plan with five sequential steps before switching monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore, GEMA 5.4 incorporates new criteria for continuous treatment with oral glucocorticoids (corticosteroid dependence) in asthma.
On the other hand, the guide addresses the identification of new risk factors for the onset of asthma (overweight or obesity in pregnant women) or triggers for attacks or exacerbations (extreme climate changes). Additionally, it has been confirmed that recurrent attacks and exacerbations have an impact on the future risk of asthma.
said Dr. Vicente Plaza, coordinator of GEMA. GEMA 5.4 also incorporates the main conclusions of the recent REMAS (REMission in ASthma) consensus, which establishes a 3-year period to determine complete remission and defines the characteristics of a new remission concept: remission in asthma and CRSwNP (unified airway).
GEMA 5.4 is an initiative promoted by 18 scientific societies led by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) and has been developed by the health consultancy Luzán 5 Health Consulting. As with every update, it incorporates the most relevant bibliographic citations published in the last period.