The Adult Asthma Clinic at UNM is accepting patients for referral on Monday afternoons with Drs. Harkins and Iwamoto and Karen-Lynn Fiato RN, Asthma Educator.  The adult asthma clinic will offer care of patients with mild to severe asthma.

We offer standardized education for MDI use, spacer use, irritant avoidance, home treatment and written action plans for mild to severe asthmatics.

Patients who may benefit from the adult asthma clinic include those with increased risk of hospitalization and frequent ED visits or those with poorly controlled asthma.  Criteria for patients with increased risk for problems with their asthma include:

1. Any hospitalizations within the last year for an asthma exacerbation
2. Greater than 2 ED visits within a year
3. Any patient with moderate to severe asthma as defined by NAEEP Guidelines. (Severe Persistent Asthma is defined as continual daily symptoms, frequent night time symptoms, or PEF variability of > 30%, Moderate Persistent Asthma is defined as daily symptoms, night symptoms >1 night per week or PEF variability of > 30%)
4. Difficulty in diagnosis
5. Asthma unresponsive to therapy

To schedule your patients, PCPs should call centralized scheduling at 272-9365 and ask for Adult Asthma clinic with Harkins or Iwamoto on Monday afternoons in the medical specialty clinic area (5ACC, clinic B). Physicians wishing to discuss care of their patients may call the Pulmonary office at (505) 272-4751 and ask to speak with Drs. Harkins or Iwamoto.

• Email: adultasthma@salud.unm.edu
• For Appointments call: (505)272-9365

• Asthma Patient Education Tutorial
• Asthma Patient Education Handouts

• TENOR: A Longitudinal Study on The Epidemiology and Natural history of Asthma: Outcomes and Treatment Regimens
• Exhaled Nitric Oxide as a marker of inflammation and asthma control
• Evaluation of changes in airway wall inflammation during asthma exacerbations via CT scanning
• Correlating non-invasive markers of inflammation to cellular markers in asthma
• Comparative study of dyspnea and quality of life in asthma: subjective vs. objective measurements