Don’t die of asthma

Every breath you (don’t) take…

A report that hit the headlines in the UK this week should be something of a wake-up call to anyone with asthma and the people who care for them. The study revealed that current healthcare guidelines for asthma are not being used properly in some cases and that this can put lives at risk.

asthma-treatment

Asthma symptom-relieving medications (such as the common blue inhaler (Ventolin) are being over-prescribed by some doctors while patients that ought to be on asthma-preventing inhalers (usually corticosteroids, not to be confused with bodybuilding steroids) are not always being prescribed those inhalers despite having poorly controlled symptoms – coughing, breathlessness, wheezing, tight-chestedness. More detail on the report and the NHS critique of media coverage here.