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Heating up Severe Adult Asthma

1,247 views · Published 13 October 2014 · 2:15 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: Lee Health · 2014 · Science & Technology

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Asthma - despite what you might think, it’s not just kid’s stuff.  The CDC estimates more than 18 million adults suffer from the condition. And with age, comes issues.

“Absolutely, we find patients that may be on certain cardiac meds that actually reduce the effects of the asthma medications,” says Teresa Summe. 

Teresa Summe is an asthma educator with Lee Memorial Health System. 

“With adults, usually there’s a lot more illnesses that they’ve acquired over the years. They also usually have a lot more medications. They're having breathing issues on top of a knee issue or a hip issue; they’re having a hard time getting around. So we really work with them,” says Summe. 

For hard-to-treat cases there is now an option that replaces medications - bronchial thermoplasty - the first non-drug therapy approved by the FDA to treat severe, chronic adult asthma.

“We use this technology on folks who have severe asthma and whose symptoms have not been controlled with usual medical therapy,” says Dr. Sagar Naik, a pulmonologist with Lee Memorial Health System. 

The procedure is based on heat. Inserting a bronchoscope into a patient’s airways it heats the lungs to 149 degrees — cooler than a cup of coffee, but warm enough to shrink the muscles which swell during an asthma attack and restrict breathing. 

“What we do in bronchial thermoplasty is take a thin, flexible, fiber optic tube with a camera at its tip, from the nose down into the lungs. We take it to each individual breathing tube and at a very, very, low frequency we emit heat energy that allows that muscle around the breathing tubes to shrink,” says Dr. Naik. 

After the procedure, the airway is no longer so prone to constricting. Asthma patients suffer fewer attacks and need fewer hospital visits.

“Getting back from a point where you’re always scared when the next asthma attack is going to be, to being well controlled, is a huge improvement,” says Dr. Naik. 

Turning up the heat may help severe asthmatics breathe much easier. 


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Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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