Clin Med
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There is an increasing awareness of different sleep disorders among the public and healthcare professionals, and the impact they can have on an individual. This conference was organised jointly with the British Thoracic Society to discuss some of these pertinent conditions, issues around driving and around service planning to accommodate an increasing specialty.
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Asthma is a heterogeneous condition with multiple phenotypes that respond to treatments in different ways. Allergic asthma is an important phenotype and although currently available treatments are effective, about 5% of affected patients have severe, treatment-refractory disease. ⋯ Clinical trials are ongoing with novel biologic agents that demonstrate potential efficacy; determining the subsets of patients for which they are suitable will be crucial to ensure cost effectiveness. Personalised medicine and targeted therapies may hold the key to long-term control in this group of patients.