Three in four asthmatics at risk from fatal attack

August 19, 2014  21:19

Three out of four people with asthma are unaware they are at risk of a fatal attack because they wrongly believe their condition is under control, says a new survey.

Alarming findings show 15 per cent of mild or moderate asthma sufferers have attended A&E in the last year for symptoms, but still don’t class their condition as uncontrolled, Daily Mail reports.

More than three-quarters of these patients use up to one ‘reliever’ asthma inhaler a week - when they shouldn’t need to get through one a month if their disease is well controlled.

The survey of 464 asthma patients was carried out by Allergy UK and funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways, causing them to constrict and resulting in attacks of breathlessness and wheezing that can be fatal.

Patients use different inhalers to combat an attack or keep the airways open.

At least 200 people are hospitalised because of their asthma every day in the UK, a total of 73,000, with more than 1,000 dying.

Around four million Britons need asthma medication, but Allergy UK estimates 2.7 million of those who consider their asthma to be mild or moderate, are at risk of life-threatening attacks.

Half of this group still suffer from breathlessness and 45 per cent from wheezing, despite regular medication.

In addition, nearly half of those who class their asthma as ‘mild or moderate’ have been prescribed oral steroids in the past 12 months.

Using this level of medication means the condition isn’t under control, as it should only be necessary in an emergency, or in the most severe asthma cases.

Lindsey McManus, the Deputy CEO of Allergy UK, said ‘Asthma is a killer, with three people dying of it every day in the UK.

‘People ‘put up with’ their asthma symptoms and continue to use medication that isn’t treating the inflammation, rather than seeking help to get their asthma under control.

‘They just don’t realise they are putting themselves in danger and could soon find themselves in A&E.’

At least 60 per cent of asthma is triggered by allergens, including house dust mite, pollen, animal dander, mould and foods, yet only a third of those surveyed had been allergy tested.

Over one in five asthma sufferers surveyed had not had an asthma review for over a year.

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