Sheikh Shamsuzzaman1, Md. Khairul Hassan Jessy2, Bashir Ahmed2, Shaharia Sharmin3, Bulbul Parveen1, Syed Nesar Ahmed1

Abstract
Upper and lower airways are considered as a unified morphological and functional unit. The existing connection
between them has been observed for many years, both in health and diseases. There are strong
epidemiologic, pathophysiologic and clinical evidences supporting an integrated view of rhinitis and asthma
termed as united airway disease (UAD). The term ‘united airway disease’ is opportune because rhinitis and
asthma both are chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper and lower airways respectively. Both of them
can be induced by allergic or nonallergic mechanisms. Management of rhinitis and asthma must be jointly
carried out for the better control of both diseases. The purpose of this review is to assess the epidemiologic,
pathophysiologic and clinical similarities between the two different entities rhinitis and asthma unified as
UAD and their treatment options.
Keywords: United airway disease (UAD), Rhinitis, Asthma, Allergy, Atopy
Abbreviations: UAD = United Airway Disease, WHO = World Health Organization, ARIA = Allergic Rhinitis
and its Impact on Asthma, AR = Allergic Rhinitis, NAR = Non-Allergic Rhinitis, AHR = Airway Hyper
Responsiveness

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