Asthma Spotlight

In the United Kingdom clinically trained pharmacists with additional training in asthma have a role in helping people with asthma to manage their disease. In this podcast interview with Garry McDonald a pharmacist with expertise in asthma and other respiratory diseases, he explains how pharmacists can help. His excellent description of how to use your inhaler and his role in promoting appropriate...

When you or your child are diagnosed with asthma it can be difficult to get information and support to help you understand your disease and to manage to keep you safe and be able to lead a normal life. I decided to include an episode of the Asthma Spotlight Podcast on resources for people with asthma. Please note that I have included a link to my website here to more information on the resources I...

Many people with asthma and many health carers including doctors and nurses are confused by the terminology used to describe asthma severity and asthma treatment . This podcast is focussed on the five ways that asthma treatment is used. It also addresses the way that specialists, based on research findings have moved away from overreliance on short acting bronchodilators for treatment of asthma. A...

Tuesday 2nd May is World Asthma Day and the theme this year is 'Asthma Care for All'. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) organises world asthma day and chooses the theme each year. So this episode is focussed on inequalities in asthma care, in particular access to good quality asthma care, socially deprived people and those exposed to indoor and outdoor pollution. These are inequalities in as...

Parents often ask if or when their child will grow out of their asthma. While there is lots of research information on the probabilities that particular children with particular characteristics may grow out of their asthma, this is a very difficult if impossible question to answer in the case of individual children. In this episode an example of a teenager's story is used to introduce the topic. E...

This is the third episode on in my series on why people still die from asthma. About half a million people die from asthma every year worldwide and there potentially preventable factors in most asthma deaths. This episode covers three more of these factors and the role they play in asthma deaths. These are asthma self management plans, management of asthma attacks and the role of a post asthm...

This is the second episode where potentially preventable factors related to asthma deaths are discussed. Three factors are included- that asthma severity is underestimated and asthma is not taken seriously by people with asthma as well as health care professionals; that quality of asthma care may not be adequate and that some medication can worsen asthma and not enough preventer medication can als...

Most asthma deaths are potentially preventable. In this first eposode on asthma deaths three potentially preventable risk factors are discussed. THios episode will be of interest for people with asthma, parents of children with asthma and also health care professionals caring for people with asthma. Asthma Spotlight PODCAST and YOUTUBE Disclaimer:  The opinions I express in these blogs,...

Many people are confused by the terms severe and mild asthma. In this episode I have focussed on severe asthma because it is really important that people with suspected or confirmed severe asthma need to be assessed and supervised by asthma specialists. The episode is directed at people who have asthma, however if health professionals wish to read a detailed description of severe asthma - have a l...

Digital applications have a role to play in management of asthma by people themselves (https://smartasthma.com). In this episode I have interviewed Dr Thomas Antalfy about his dose counter, peak flow meter and smartphone application for people with asthma. This sort of system can enable people with asthma to monitor their disease, and it has the capability to provide early warning signs that your...

Trigger factors that spark off asthma attacks can cause attacks to happen very suddenly without any warning. So its really important for people with asthma to know and learn about the things that spark off their attacks so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent atacks and the stop them from developing. Mainly by ensuring that controller/preventer treatment is taken as directed by your doc...

There are a number of digital applications (Apps) available for asthma and allergy. In this episode Dr Greg Burch explains the background, purpose and uses for the Digital Health Passport which is available for people in the Unitend Kingdom and Ireland. For more details and how to get the App see https://digitalhealthpassport.co/ . Asthma Spotlight PODCAST and YOUTUBE Disclaimer:  The op...

Overuse of short acting reliever inhaler (they are usually blue) asthma inhalers is potentially harmful. Overuse or overreliance of these relievers is when you use this daily or more often than daily. The relievers only provide relaxation of the tightened air passages (ie in spasm) for about 4 hours. These drugs do NOT treat the underlying inflammation caused by asthma and they dont prevent attack...

Asthma attacks in children can be very frightening both for the child and also an adult looking after them. This episode is to help teachers, carers, relatives and others caring for children who have asthma to understand some of the basics of asthma and its management. Some suggested ways teachers and carers can help these children as well as some thoughts on recognising and dealing with attacks a...

Inhaled corticosteroids are the drugs that are often prescribed by doctors to treat the underlying inflammation (or irritation) in the air passages of the lungs. They act to reduce symptoms, to prevent flair-ups and attacks of asthma - they help to keep you out of hospital. In this episode, three ways that these drugs are prescribed for use, depending on your age, the severity of your asthma, the...

Whether its possible to diagnose asthma in preschool children is controversial amongst non asthma experts - this is a topic that results in lots of debate amongst those caring for young children. Viral associated or viral induced wheeze is used as a common diagnosis in children having repeated episodes of coughing or wheezing. This episode of the ASthma Podcast discusses clues to the diagnosis of...

Like any chronic disease, your asthma should to be checked from time to time to see if you are having any trouble that may need to be dealt with to fix any problems and bring the disease under control. In this episode you will learn why reviews soon after asthma attacks are important both to find out if the attack is over or if you need more treatment and the other reason for these reviews is...

Your own personal asthma self-management plan provided by your own doctor or trained asthma educator is an excellent resource to help you keep your asthma under control and to prevent attacks. This episode explains what these plans are and how they can help you look after yourself by understanding how your asthma drugs work, how to recognise danger signals, how to tell if an attack is starting and...

How do you know when your asthma is flaring up. This is the second episode on keeping a check on your asthma.and is about using tests (objective tests) that provide numbers to tell how well controlled your asthma is, and that helps you to compare your asthma control with past control, and it should also help you make more use of your self management plan provided by your own doctor. The episode ad...

How do you know when your asthma is flaring up. This episode is the first about monitoring your asthma – that is how to keep a check on how your asthma is doing. Most importantly how you can tell when your asthma is going out of control so you can take action using your self-management plan to prevent an attack from developing into something troublesome and preventing hospital admission. There are...

The reliever drugs are used for treating asthma symptoms and flare-ups. There are two kinds of relievers; the short acting ones for emergency use for flare-ups or attacks of asthma - they don't control your asthma and they don't prevent attacks.  The long acting relievers are usually prescribed for asthma together with an inhaled corticosteroid. One of these long acting relievers is formotero...

This episode focusses on drug treatment for preventing asthma symptoms and attacks. s. The drugs prescribed to treat asthma inflammation are called anti-inflammatory drugs,or controllers or preventers. Asthma symptoms and flare-ups or asthma attacks are prevented or markedly reduced by the preventer/ controller medicines. There are three types of anti-inflammatory controllers and preventers: i) Co...

In this episode on the basics of asthma I explain about the role of the lungs, and why asthma is a potentially dangerous disease. Different types of asthma are described. Information on the ongoing, chronic, inflammation caused by asthma as well as the fact that asthma flares up with attacks is discussed. Also the episode includes a detailed explanation of how asthma affects the lungs, particularl...

When asthma goes out of control this results in symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing. Wheezing is a whistling noise that comes from the chest and is usually heard when breathing out. These episodes of poor control are called asthma flare-ups, exacerbations or asthma attacks.  Three reasons why this is the first full episode in this Asthma Spotlig...

In this trailer I introduce a few key messages about asthma attacks. Future episodes will aim to help people with asthma understand and manage their disease and to prevent attacks. Weekly Episodes will start in December. Asthma Spotlight   PODCAST Disclaimer :  The opinions I express in this Asthma Spotlight   PODCAST  are not intended as, and shall not be understood or constru...