*Some of this information has been taken from www.asthma.org.uk (with their permission!)*
With it being pollen season, I thought it important to chat about something that affects 5.4 million people in the UK!
Asthma is a long-term condition that means you have ‘sensitive’ airways which are inflamed and react to particular ‘triggers.’ One in every twelve adults and one in every eleven children are currently receiving treatment for Asthma – that’s around 5.4 million people in the UK. Asthma in children affects more boys than girls but in adults it affects more females than males. It can run in the family but being diagnosed with mild Asthma as a child will often mean that it will improve as you get older.
Because everyone’s Asthma is different, diagnosis can often take time and involves tests (such as blood tests, a chest X-ray, an ECG etc.) that your GP can both do and refer you for. Here’s some symptoms to look out for:
· Coughing that won’t go away or keeps coming back and is especially there after being active
· Wheezing which can sound like a whistling when you breathe
· Chest tightness
· Shortness of breath
I was a child when I was diagnosed so I can’t remember the entire process, but my Mum said that from a young age I would wake up coughing during the night but it was intermittent so Doctors didn’t think I had Asthma initially. My Mum had to try everything to get me diagnosed and eventually I had a Bronchoscopy and allergy tests to be told I sounded like a ‘creaky gate.’ After being diagnosed, I was put on inhalers though I initially struggled to use them at such a young age, I’ve now mastered (I think!) the technique. My Mum attended talks on Asthma to do everything to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic triggers (which ranged from pollen to excitement!) that led to my worst asthma attack when I was rushed to Hospital and put on a nebulizer.