{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02476780185758514, 'fraction_numerical': 0.007430340557275541, 'mean_word_length': 5.337254901960784, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Commentary: Self-management programs in the treatment of asthma.

Air flow obstruction in asthma may be caused by a number of factors, chiefly inflammation and airway smooth muscle contraction. Over the years, the relative significance of these two events for asthma has varied; sometimes one or the other was thought to be more important. In recent times, more emphasis has been placed on inflammation than on muscle contraction. As knowledge of asthma accumulated, it became increasingly clear that it is an inflammatory disease. Modern methods of controlling the disease, medications that are sometimes remarkably effective, rely primarily on reducing inflammation. At the same time, reduction of airway smooth muscle contraction continues to be a goal of asthma therapy, but its importance is secondary (Busse & Reed, 1988). Traditional psychological interventions for control of asthma, interventions such as relaxation procedures outlined in this article, reduce airway smooth muscle contraction, not inflammation. The distinction may be made on the basis of studies of healthy individuals who experience no inflammation but exhibit pulmonary function improvement following relaxation (Kotses, 1998). The mechanism for this is unclear, although some form of neural control has been suggested (Glaus & Kotses, 1983). At the same time, evidence that inflammation is controlled by relaxation is lacking. Some even find it difficult to take this proposition seriously. But these considerations do not relegate behavioral interventions to a minor role in the control of asthma. Inflammation may be controlled by be