GPs to focus on patients' asthma attack risk under updated guideline

[Northerner]

All asthma reviews should consider not only patients' current control of the condition, but also factors that significantly drive up risk of an attack - including history of previous asthma attacks, poor current control of their asthma, and overuse of reliever medication, the latest advice says.

Under an updated guideline from the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Asthma Network (SIGN), GPs are also advised to be aware of factors that can ‘moderately’ or ‘slightly’ increase risk.

In children these include having an allergic disease as well as asthma, younger age, obesity and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, while in adults older age, female gender, reduced lung function, obesity, smoking and depression are markers of slightly increased risk.

https://www.gponline.com/gps-focus-patients-asthma-attack-risk-updated-guideline/article/1591883

 

[Bruce Stephens]

All asthma reviews should consider not only patients' current control of the condition, but also factors that significantly drive up risk of an attack - including history of previous asthma attacks, poor current control of their asthma, and overuse of reliever medication, the latest advice says.

Makes one wonder what the previous advice said. (And why.)

 

[mikeyB]

Indeed, Bruce. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t some idea what triggers their asthma. I know for me it’s tree pollen. A couple of months ago, every time I drove the scooter into the village, even after using the “preventer” steroid inhaler, I would end up wheezy in the evening. That was because of the many Hawthorn ( or May) bushes that were in flower along the road. Now I can go down in the sunshine without any bother.

Incidentally, that old expression “cast not a clout before May is out” refers to the May, or Hawthorn bush, not the month.

Interestingly, vaping has no discernible effect on my asthma symptoms.

 

[Northerner]

I'm still not entirely sure what triggers mine, but the stuffy conditions of the past few days have certainly made things much worse after being less affected for some time now (following your advice @mikeyB a while back I started having two puffs of the preventer in the morning instead of just the one and I hardly ever need the reliever now 🙂)