People with asthma are being urged to take extra care in the cold weather.
According to health charity Asthma UK, the cold weather acts as a trigger for three quarters of the 5.4 million people with asthma in the UK, and hospital admissions generally peak when temperatures plummet. Catching cold or flu can also exacerbate asthma symptoms.
Cher Piddock, lead nurse for Asthma UK, said: “People whose asthma is well-controlled are more likely to be able to withstand the dangers of winter months and you can help keep your asthma under control by making sure you have a regular asthma review with your doctor or asthma nurse and that you have a personal asthma action plan.
“This is a plan which should be completed by your doctor or asthma nurse in discussion with you, and contains the information you need to manage your asthma, including information about your medicines, key things to tell you when your asthma is getting worse and what you should do about it, as well as emergency information on what to do if you have an asthma attack.”
Asthma
5 tips for keeping asthma at bay as the weather gets colder:
* Keep taking your regular preventer medicines as prescribed by your doctor
* If you know that cold air triggers your asthma, take one or two puffs of your reliever inhaler before going outside
* Keep your blue reliever inhaler with you at all times
* Wrap up well and wear a scarf over your nose and mouth – this will help to warm up the air before you breathe it in
* Take extra care when exercising in cold weather. Warm up for 10–15 minutes and take one or two puffs of your reliever inhaler before you start
Steps to take if you have an asthma attack
You might be having an asthma attack if you are coughing more than usual, experiencing shortness of breath, wheezing, feeling tightness in the chest, having difficulty speaking in full sentences.
Asthma
If you have an asthma attack:
1. Keep calm – do not panic
2. Sit down and try to take slow, steady breaths
3. Take one or two puffs of your reliever inhaler (usually blue), immediately
If there is no improvement – continue to take two puffs of your reliever inhaler every two minutes. You should take up to ten puffs.
When to call 999:
* If your symptoms do not improve in 5 – 10 minutes
* If you are too breathless to talk
* If you are worried at any time
If an ambulance does not arrive within 15 minutes, repeat step 3 while you wait.
Even if your symptoms improve and you didn’t need to call 999, you should still see a doctor or asthma nurse within 24 hours.
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A common garden mould that causes an allergic reaction in asthmatics actually grows in many patients’ lungs.
The discovery was made during research into the impact of the mould Aspergillus fumigates on asthmatics. The fungi is usually found in soil and compost heaps.
Andy Wardlaw of the University of Leicester, who led the research said: “Asthma is a very common condition where the breathing tubes (bronchi) can go into spasm – making it difficult to breathe,” reports the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“We found that about half of people with severe asthma have evidence of allergy to moulds like Aspergillus fumigates,” the Daily Mail quoted Wardlaw as saying.
“We also found that if you were allergic to the mould, you had more narrowing of the airways than if you were not allergic, and this was worse in patients from whom A. fumigatus was grown.
“Our research concluded that it is possible that fixed narrowing of breathing tubes in many people with asthma could be caused by A. fumigatus growing in their lungs,” Wardlaw said.