Figure 1: Continuum of asthma management for the continuum of increasing severity of asthma (from left to right). The vertical axis indicates treatment recommendations at each level of severity. The continuum illustrates the preferred strategies for escalation (from left to right) and de-escalation (from right to left) of long-term maintenance therapy, against a background of a patient-centred model of chronic disease management, consisting of regular follow-up and optimization of therapy adjusted according to assessments of control. The items in the list for regular reassessment (at left) apply to all patients with asthma and should be reviewed at each clinical encounter. Note: GE = gastroesophageal, ICS = inhaled corticosteroids, IgE = immunoglobulin E, LABA = long-acting β2-agonist. Copyright Canadian Thoracic Society, 2009.