Learn about SMART Therapy for asthma
How to use the CHEST Study website
The CHEST Study
CHEST stands for A Collaboration with Community Health Centers to Implement SMART for Asthma. The CHEST Team includes community health doctors and nurses, WashU pulmonologists, public health experts, and health communication experts in St. Louis. We are working together to try to improve asthma treatment and outcomes. CHEST aims to help asthma patients receive guideline-recommended SMART therapy for their asthma.
About SMART Therapy
SMART stands for Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy. SMART is recommended by asthma experts for people with moderate-to-severe asthma. SMART combines a steroid inhaler and beta-agonist to create one single inhaler. With SMART, patients use the same inhaler for everyday use and as needed. When patients are prescribed SMART, their asthma control generally improves.
Asthma by the numbers
26 million Americans are diagnosed with asthma.
1 in 10 children are diagnosed with asthma.
$80 billion U.S. dollars in cost annually due to asthma.
13.8 million missed school days per year due to asthma.
SMART facts
Equal symptoms present in both SMART and alternate therapies.
SMART is covered by MO HealthNet.
30% decrease in asthma exacerbations due to SMART.
GINA recommends SMART therapy.
Hear from patients
“…Because it [SMART therapy] would be just like one less thing I would have to remember again. Instead of having the two, you just got the one and you’re done.”
—54-year-old St. Louisian who struggled with asthma control and tried SMART
“I like the combined approach [SMART therapy] better because I forget to take my [everyday inhaler] so much. And I don’t forget to take my rescue inhaler because my body tells me when I need it.”
—47-year-old St. Louis resident with asthma who tried SMART
Questions, concerns, or ideas?
Trivia facts
Asthma trivia of the month
The first modern inhaler was inspired by a perfume spray bottle! In 1956, a teenager with asthma, Susie Maison, complained to her dad (a pharmacist) that using bulky glass nebulizers was inconvenient. Her father, George Maison, took inspiration from perfume atomizers and worked with Riker Laboratories to develop the first pressurized metered-dose inhaler (MDI)—the same basic design still used today! Read more here.
St. Louis trivia of the month
The Gateway Arch is the tallest monument in the U.S. at 630 feet—but did you know it’s just as wide as it is tall? The Arch’s width and height are exactly the same, making it a perfectly symmetrical catenary curve.
St. Louis and asthma:
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s (AAFA) “Asthma Capitals” report frequently ranks St. Louis among the worst cities in the U.S. for asthma with high prevalence and asthma-related mortality. This is due to a combination of factors such as high pollen counts, significant air pollution, and varying weather conditions that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. The city’s location in the Mississippi River Valley can also contribute to trapping allergens and pollutants, making it a more difficult environment for individuals with respiratory conditions like asthma.
