What is Intermittent Asthma?

Intermittent asthma is the mildest form of asthma, but it is not a type of asthma that is completely risk-free. 1 In fact, in the most recent asthma guidelines, the “mild” qualifier that previously was associated with intermittent asthma has been removed to emphasize this very point. However, in intermittent asthma, impairment will be low or absent, and airway symptoms will be infrequent (Table 29-1). In fact, because asthma is defined as a disease of chronic airway inflammation, in some ways, the notion of intermittent asthma is something of a paradox. After all, how can a patient have intermittent, chronic airway inflammation? Clearly, intermittent asthma does exist, and depending upon the patient population in your practice, you may see it frequently or infrequently. Still, many patients will have this form of asthma because milder forms of asthma are most common, and these mild patients will require ongoing clinical follow-up, appropriate medical management, and, as with more severely asthmatic patients, a clear action plan to follow.