Brits still have a poor perception of asthma

Considering there are a staggering 5.4 million asthmatics in Britain, it could be assumed that the majority of us are pretty clued-up on the serious lung condition asthma. Unfortunately, the results of a new survey suggest this could be far from the truth.

Research conducted by supermarket giant Asda showed that whilst 94% acknowledge asthma as a serious health condition, 1 in four respondents could not recognise key symptoms associated with asthma. In fact, 17% incorrectly believed blocked sinuses are a sign of the lung condition.

An additional 15% of those surveyed simply thought feeling dizzy was asthma-related and 13% bizarrely assumed having itchy eyes was somehow a key symptom of asthma. In reality, the primary common symptoms of asthma are having a shortness of breath, wheezing (accompanied by a whistling sound), chest tightness/pain/pressure, coughing (especially at night or early in the morning).
Sufferers usually find their symptoms to be particularly worse at night time, after exposure to cold air, exercise-induced, or brought-on by a reaction to an allergen – similar to hay fever sufferers.

Other wrong assumptions held by Brits include thinking there is a permanent cure for the lifelong condition; incredibly a third of us believe this to be true. Moreover, 15% merely think that asthma is something that only ‘unfit’ people have.

This is clearly untrue though and many are obviously forgetting the countless famous asthma sufferers who have reached the top of their field, such as the multimillionaire and recently retired footballer David Beckham and cyclist Laura Trott, who won gold at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games in the Team Pursuit and Omnium events.

However, asthma attacks still cause around 1,140 deaths each year and a substantial number of those could have been avoided with more awareness about the condition and how to efficiently control it. Only 37% of Brits have a decent knowledge about asthma medication or can differentiate between the purpose of blue and brown inhalers.

Unfortunately, this perhaps demonstrate a worrying lack of awareness about the fact a person’s asthma can be better controlled with regular and correct utilisation of brown preventer inhalers such as the commonly used Qvar Beclometasone and Easi-Breathe inhalers. Over time, the brown preventers are effective at reducing the need for blue inhalers – which are taken immediately to relieve asthma symptoms and essential in treating asthma attacks.

Visit the ‘Asthma and Allergies’ area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website for a full list of all the preventer and reliever inhalers we provide for suitable patients.

If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. You can undergo a quick and easy confidential online consultation with one of our GMC-registered Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house RPSGB–registered Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice, all within just 24 hours!*

*Allow extra time for overseas deliveries.

Fungi found in the lungs could offer clues about asthma

Welsh scientists could have made an important breakthrough in the development of affective asthma treatment after discovering hundreds of varying fungal particles within the lungs of both asthma sufferers, and healthy individuals who did not have the lung condition.

Previously, many would have assumed that our lungs were absent of life, so the new discovery that the lungs are host to organisms may now prove massively beneficial for the 5.4 million people across the UK who have asthma.

The large study, which is the first of its kind, has been published in the journal BMC Infectious Disease. It shows how the team from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine have managed to detect high numbers of fungi existing in healthy lungs, whilst also finding other differing kinds of fungi in asthma patients.

“Historically, the lungs were thought to be sterile”, says Hugo van Woerden from Cardiff University’s Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, who led the research.

He continued: “Our analysis found that there are large numbers of fungi present in healthy human lungs. The study also demonstrates that asthma patients have a large number of fungi in their lungs and that the species of fungi are quite different to those present in the lungs of healthy individuals.”

Van Woerden and his colleagues analysed the mucus or sputum from a large collection of patients both with and without asthma and subsequently unearthed some 136 different fungal species from the induced sputum samples. Of this total, 90 fungal species more prevalent within the lungs of asthma patients and 46 were more common within the lungs of patients who did not suffer from asthma.

“Establishing the presence of fungi in the lungs of patients with asthma could potentially open up a new field of research which brings together molecular techniques for detecting fungi and developing treatments for asthma. In the future it is conceivable that individual patients may have their sputum tested for fungi and their treatment adjusted accordingly”, added van Woerden.

Cardiff researchers have previously established a link between fungi and asthma however and they have said in the past that by eradicating fungi from people’s homes, this could dramatically help life for those who suffer with asthma.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy is able to help you if you are suffering from asthma. We can provide any new or existing asthma patient with a wide range of medications. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. You can undergo a quick and easy confidential online consultation with one of our GMC-registered Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house RPSGB–registered Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice. We have both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone and Qvar Easi-Breathe.

Pregnant women taking antibiotics leave babies at risk of asthma

A new Danish study has emerged that shows potential dangers to children if their mothers take antibiotics during pregnancy, with these children possibly more likely to develop asthma in comparison to children whose mothers did not take any antibiotics when expecting.

The researchers state that results they have gathered from their study are not 100% definitive in proving that antibiotics were completely responsible for the apparent increased asthma risk. However their data does back-up an already known theory that the body’s own ‘friendly’ bacteria play an important role in whether or not a child develops asthma, with antibiotics seemingly sabotaging these good bacteria.

Dr. Hans Bisgaard, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, was one of a few authors of the study, published in The Journal of Pediatrics. He said: “We speculate that mothers’ use of antibiotics changes the balance of natural bacteria, which is transmitted to the new-born, and that such unbalanced bacteria in early life impact on the immune maturation in the new-born.”

Anita Kozyrskyj, a professor at the University of Alberta, has also conducted her own studies trying to ascertain asthma and antibiotic links, and she believes it is these effects on the immune system could end up leading to a development of asthma later on, although she is still trying to work out exactly how.

Although there have been arguments against the findings, previous research has suggested that those children who are given antibiotics during the first six months of their life are at a 52% more risk of developing asthma and allergies by the time they are 6 years old.

Dr Bisgaard and his colleagues however decided to focus their research on the effects of antibiotics earlier than infancy. To do this they obtained information from a Danish national birth database comprising of over 30,000 children who were born sometime between 1997 and 2003. The team’s follow-up analysis spanned for a total of five years.

It was discovered that approximately a quarter of the children (7,300), had mothers who had taken antibiotics during their pregnancy. Of these children, just over 3% had been admitted to hospital for their asthma prior to the age of five.

In total, it was found that 581 (2.5%) of the approximate 23,000 children not exposed to antibiotics, had been admitted to hospital for asthma.

Dr Bisgaard and his team then looked at other possible risk factors for asthma and managed to calculate that the children that had been exposed to antibiotics whilst in the womb were around 17% more likely to require hospital treatment for asthma conditions.

Also it was calculated that those children with mothers who had taken antibiotics during pregnancy were 18% more likely to have been issued a prescription for asthma medicine such as Ventolin for example, compared to kids whose mothers did not take antibiotics when they were pregnant.

If you are suffering from asthma, why not allow At Medical Specialists Pharmacy to help you as we are able to provide new and existing asthma patients with a wide range of medications. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. After undergoing a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors, if you are suitable they will then write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice. We have both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone and Qvar Easi-Breathe.

Wrinkle-busting Botox may be used to combat hay fever

Almost precisely a month ago we delivered some exciting news for 10 million hay fever sufferers in the UK and millions more around the globe when we reported how a new vaccine was in development that could directly hit the immune system, providing effective relief. This is on top of already currently available treatments such as Loratadine tablets, Nasonex nasal spray, Prevalin and Alomide allergy eye drops.

Now it seems that hay fever sufferers could be offered even more options to treat their symptoms, which occur when the immune system (the body’s defence system) overreacts to allergens, which in turn results in the release of histamine which in turn causes inflammation, itchy reddening or itchy eyes and sneezing. Although hay fever sufferers are worse hit during the spring and summer period, those who have allergic reactions to cats and dogs can find themselves in misery throughout the year when they come into contact with these animals.

The new treatment option bizarrely comes in the form of a Botox nasal gel remarkably, and now Australian scientists are currently preparing to carry out the first trial of its kind. Botox is mostly associated with celebrities who are willing to fork out thousands of pounds in their effort to beat the aging process. As well as a wrinkle-fighter, Botox may also be useful as a weapon against the inconvenient and troublesome symptoms of hay fever.

The Botox gel will be applied to the skin on your nose with the help of a cotton bud, where it will work by penetrating the skin to reach the nasal cavity. According to Philip Bardin, a professor at the Monash Medical Centre, the botulinum toxin could offer relief for hay fever sufferers by blocking nerve endings in the nasal passage, decreasing inflammation and preventing the onset of symptoms.

For the forthcoming study, Professor Bardin is optimistic about recruiting around 70 patients with hay fever and what is a common practice in these experiments; half of the subjects will receive the tested treatment (i.e. the Botox) and the other half will be given a placebo. The study is being initiated after preliminary trial earlier this year showed that the therapy does indeed provide relief from symptoms.

Here is what Professor Bardin had to say on the promising new treatment: “Botox works for three months and then its effects are broken down and the nerves regenerate. So if this works, maybe it’s gel into the nose every three months – or once a year for people who have seasonal allergic rhinitis – and, hopefully, no more sneezing.”

Dr Stephen Till from King’s College London, acknowledged the exciting breakthrough, saying: “This new vaccine is potentially applicable to far larger numbers than the existing one.”

However, the good news doesn’t end there. It seems even asthma sufferers could find themselves better off after a therapy of Botox. Professor Bardin has also released preliminary details of an experiment where a group of asthma patients with severe symptoms were injected with Botox into their larynx in an effort to alleviate muscle spasms. He claims that 80% of the asthma patients responded to the treatment and showed improve symptoms. The next step will be similar to the hay fever trial, involving a much bigger selection of patients, with both a Botox and placebo therapy being tested.

Of course, nobody knows for sure when or if Botox will be given the go-ahead for certified hay fever or asthma treatment as any potential health risks will have to be assessed first. In the meantime, Medical Specialists Pharmacy provides a huge range of products and medications to help both hay fever asthma sufferers, all at great prices. We have all of the previously mentioned hay fever treatments (Loratadine, Nasonex, Prevalin and Alomide), in addition to a huge range of asthma inhalers.

If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms.   After undergoing a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors, if you are suitable they will then write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice. This is all done discretely and within just 24 hours. We have both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone and Qvar Easi-Breathe.

Oldham schoolboy dies from a severe asthma attack

A mother of three from Oldham has called for more awareness to be raised regarding the seriousness of asthma after her 9-year-old son, Joshua, tragically died from an asthma attack earlier this year. In particularly, his mother wants parents to more educated on the difference between the blue reliever inhalers and the brown preventer inhalers, in the hope that other lives can be saved in the future.

Joshua Platt had initially been formally diagnosed with asthma at the age of just one. Despite the early setback, he never let the condition hold him back in life and regularly participated in things such as camping, football, swimming, basketball, judo and enjoyed playing with his younger sisters Demi-Rae, four, and two-year-old Macie.

On 12 February this year, Joshua helped Joanna tidy the house and then went to visit his Grandmother. He had earlier awoken with what Joanna described to the Oldham coroners court as a ‘bit of a sniffle’ and a mild cough, but nothing that majorly concerned her at that point in time.
Joshua arrived back to his home in the Hollinwood area of Oldham at about 7pm and his mum promptly gave him Calpol medicine. After he then started to wheeze, Joshua began rocking backwards and forwards, requested his blue inhaler and asked his mum to rub his back. She says, “He was trying to take deep breaths while trying to talk to me at the same time but was struggling to do both. He was panicking and I was trying to guide him and try to get him to inhale slowly but he just couldn’t.”

Unfortunately his reliever inhaler didn’t have an effect on him and he lost consciousness, leading to Joanna frantically calling for an ambulance to get Joshua to hospital. Despite her best efforts to get him breathing again, Joshua was rushed to Royal Oldham Hospital and tragically, he was pronounced dead at 8.30pm that night.

In what highlights the condition’s severity, the inquest heard that severe attacks could happen to sufferers who did manage their asthma in addition to those who did not. Coroner Simon Nelson recorded a death of natural causes, stating there was unfortunately nothing that could have been done to prevent Joshua’s death. He further called for all parents, teachers and doctors to make sure that asthma sufferers are fully aware of the importance of their preventative medication.

His comments came after Joanna suggested that Joshua had come too accustomed to taking his blue reliever inhalers when his symptoms were showing, and had generally ignored the brown preventer. However, this works over time to reduce the inflammation and mucus in the airways. It could be that Joshua had ignored this type of inhaler as its benefits are not immediately obvious.  They are very important inhalers though and should not be overlooked by asthma sufferers. Gradually over time, the low dose of steroid medicine in the inhaler will have an impact and chest tightness, coughing and wheezing should occur less frequently. Some may even notice that they need to use the reliever inhaler less than before.

Joanna commented, “I think Josh had become laid back about his medication and thought that because he had his inhaler to use if he had an attack, he didn’t need to worry about the other inhaler that would prevent it in the first place. Everyone else was reminding him to take it but he was not aware of how important it was. I think children who have asthma need to be better educated about the importance of all their medication. Teachers and parents should be given more advice. Parents need to be made aware that whether you have got the asthma in control or not that this can still happen. They need to educate their children as well. A lot of people are so laid back about it and think that you can just rely on your blue inhaler but once those tubes close that’s it. To other parents with asthmatic children all I can say is don’t take the inhalers for granted and keep on your child’s back about taking the brown preventer. Josh lived life to the full and his illness never stopped him. He was loved by so many people and had a lot of friends.”

The story of Joshua’s death deeply saddens everybody at Medical Specialists Pharmacy and it shows exactly why we are such strong advocates for the promotion of better asthma awareness to help support the 5.4 million sufferers in the UK, and millions more around the world. Back in August we created an article trying to dispel the unnecessary embarrassment or shame that some asthma sufferers still have with the condition. We have also offered advice and stated some warning signs that asthma sufferers need to be aware of in regards to understanding if their symptoms are under control.

At Medical Specialists we have a wide range of medications to help asthma sufferers. If you are suffering from asthma like symptoms, you should see your doctor immediately for a diagnosis. Your doctor is able to prescribe medication if he feels you have asthma. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler or have lost your inhaler or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. We now offer both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone, Qvar Easi-Breathe and Pulvinal Beclomethasone.

There have been occasions when some of our asthma patients have also requested a non-drowsy antihistamine such as Loratadine. Daily use of this medication is particularly helpful for asthma sufferers to reduce season allergies from exposure to pollen, exposure to dust mites, bed mites, pets, etc. or for those who experience severe asthma symptoms after exercise.

Olympian’s heavy training regimes could be causing asthma

With the London Summer Olympic Games now in full swing, an Australian study has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, investigating the impact of the training involved on the athletes and any connections to chronic lung conditions.

In a country such as Australia, whereby more than 2 million people suffer from the lung condition  asthma (about 1 in 10 adults and about 1 in 9 or 10 children),  clearly the study author based at the University of Western Australia realised it was a serious subject matter than warranted some analysis.

Sole author of the study, researcher Kenneth D. Fitch, underwent the painstaking task of pinpointing every single Olympic athlete suffering from asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) who had competed during the previous five Olympic Games (2002 to 2010), and who had been using an inhaled beta-2 agonist (IBA) such as Ventolin Evohaler.

Hyper-responsiveness occurs usually between 15 to 30 minutes after exposure to an allergen and is the beginning stage of an asthma attack. Together, asthma and AHR are the most prevailing of chronic conditions seen in Olympians, with a prevalence rate of around 8%. Because of this, the researchers wondered if it was down to the intense, rigorous physical training the athletes undergo to get into peak condition for the events.

In both the summer and winter Olympics, it was noted there are a high number of athletes suffering from asthma and AHR in those who are involved in endurance events. These are usually aerobic sports that demand quite an extended period of output for the athlete and include events such as triathlon, decathlon, rowing, cross-country skiing, running and bicycle races. In addition, it was discovered that lung problems are quite late onset in a high number of older competitors. This led the study author to believe that the gruelling years of training have played a part.

Fitch offered his thoughts on the study he had carried out, saying, “Inhaling polluted or cold air is considered an important factor which might explain the cause in some sports, but not in all.”
Clearly with two Olympic events occurring in contrasting seasons such as the summer and winter games, Fitch then considered the prospect that the two differing temperatures, environments, etc, involved in both the training and games themselves, could affect the athletes.

He commented, “The quality of inhaled air could be harmful to the airways, but does not cause the same effect in all sports.” Fitch highlighted that the prevalence of asthma and AHR is greater in the summer Olympics in those athletes who are training for endurance events. He also said that if there are a larger total of winter athletes suffering with asthma in comparison to their summer counterparts, this could be due to the fact there are a lower number of individual medals available in the endurance events.
One interesting point touched upon in Fitch’s study, was the fact that there are a good proportion of asthmatic competitors who are routinely beating their ‘healthier’ counterparts to medals. There are currently no links to asthma inhalers being directly responsible for increased performance levels, but Fitch suggests that further studies could be done to further analyse a potential correlation. His point could be valid as the hugely successful and acclaimed Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes is a notorious asthmatic, and is regularly seen puffing on his Salbutamol inhaler on the Old Trafford pitch.

Asthma is not just a condition that affects athletes however; in the UK alone there are 5.4 million people currently receiving treatment for asthma. This equates to 1 in every 12 adults and 1 in every 11 children.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy is at hand to help you with your asthma. We have great prices on all asthma treatment, including blue reliever inhalers such as Ventolin Evohaler and Sandoz Salbutamol. These inhalers are taken immediately to relieve asthma symptoms. They quickly relax the muscles surrounding the narrowed airways. This allows the airways to open wider, making it easier to breathe again. Relievers are essential in treating asthma attacks.

We also have brown preventer inhalers such as Qvar beclometasone and Qvar Easi-Breathe, both at low prices. Brown inhalers are used for asthma prevention and should not be used to relief shortness of breath or sudden asthma attacks. These inhalers control the swelling and inflammation in the airways and reduce the risk of severe asthma attacks. The preventers need to be used daily (usually in the morning and at night) and even when you are feeling well. As the protective effect of the steroid builds up, you will be less likely to be breathless or have asthma attacks.

The New York childhood asthma rate is more than US national average

Statistics released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that an average of one in eight New York City children have been diagnosed with asthma. This means that the prevalence rate is higher than the US national average for childhood asthma, which is currently about one in ten.

Thomas Matte, assistant commissioner for environmental surveillance and policy, commented on the findings and said, “New York City’s rate on average is higher, but then within the city we know the rate varies dramatically. Our rate is really pulled up by the high rates in poor neighbourhoods.”

Matte gives his opinions on why this is so, and says that households with lower income will probably have more possible asthma triggers such as mould, pest infestations, and the chemicals in cigarette smoke can irritate the lungs. The links between tobacco smoke and lung conditions such as asthma is a topic Medical Specialists Pharmacy previously reported earlier this year, and we advise that asthma suffers must have their reliever inhaler in their possession at all times, especially when there is a risk of being in the presence of somebody who smokes.

He further advises that written instructions for children and parents would be an effective method of managing their asthma.  According to the CDC survey, only one in three children using medication for asthma was actually doing this.

It is calculated that children residing in East Harlem are almost 13 times more likely to require asthma-related hospital treatment in comparison to counterparts living in the Upper East Side. The same report claims that 18% of Hispanic children and 17% of black children have been diagnosed with asthma, and just 5% of white children.

Dr Joshua Needleman, a paediatric pulmonologist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, says Doctors are already aware of the trends that the report highlights, saying, “You find asthma all over the place, but the kids in the poor areas is where you see the most burden.”

With soaring temperatures currently gripping the US, child and adult asthma sufferers in both poor and wealthy areas will no doubt see their symptoms worsen, and this will apply to those who have hay fever too. Days with high humidity or pollution can especially cause problems for asthma sufferers and this can be dangerous if left untreated. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) have said, “Although symptoms may not always be severe, summertime allergies and asthma are serious and, in some cases, deadly.”

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we offer our patients a huge range of medications to help both asthma and allergy sufferers, all at great prices. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. After undergoing a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors, if you are suitable they will then write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice. We have both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol cheaper than the NHS, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone, Qvar Easi-Breathe and Pulvinal Beclomethasone.

An effective treatment for allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is Nasonex nasal spray. Available with or without a prescription, Nasonex is a medication used to help with congestion, sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, and nasal itching due to allergies. It is also prescribed for nasal polyps (small, non-cancerous growths on the lining inside the nose). Prices of this medication are from as little as £9.98 per pack. Our chemist shop has now been expanded to include products such Prevalin allergy nasal spray, Prevalin allergy kids nasal spray and Alomide allergy eye drops, which can all help to ease the symptoms of hay fever.

Poor lung function and vitamin D deficiency could be connected

A study published online in the July 12 edition of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, has linked a deficiency of vitamin D to a worsening lung function in asthmatic children who are treated by the use of corticosteroid inhalers, such as Qvar Beclometasone or Easi-Breathe.

The study came about after researchers made the observation that the prevalence of both asthma and vitamin D deficiency have increased over the last few years. They then set about the task of uncovering any evidence that may suggest a link between these facts.

The 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were analysed in the serum of 1,024 children aged between 5 and 12 years old from the Childhood Asthma Management Program. Every child involved in the study was suffering from mild to moderate ‘persistent’ asthma and for the evaluations were randomly given either the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent nedocromil, budesonide (an inhaler corticosteroid), or a placebo.

It was determined by researchers that the children’s level of vitamin D would be judged as <20 ng/mL being deficient, 20 to 30 ng/mL being insufficient and >30 ng/mL would be classed as sufficient.

The results showed that 663 children (about 65%), 260 (about 25%), and 101 (about 10%) of the children in the study had vitamin D levels sufficient, insufficient and deficient, respectively. It was determined that those showing a deficient level of vitamin D were more likely to be older and black, or have a higher body mass index in comparison to those children who had ‘sufficient’ or ‘insufficient’ levels of vitamin D.

Ann Chen Wu, from the Harvard Medical School and one of the leading figures in the study, said, “In conclusion, vitamin D sufficiency in patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids is associated with improved lung function in patients with mild to moderate persistent asthma. Monitoring vitamin D levels and/or supplementing with vitamin D could be considered during inhaled corticosteroid treatment for patients with asthma.”

Dr Wu has acknowledged certain constraints with their study though. For example, the sample size of children with a deficient vitamin D level was particularly small. In addition, Dr Wu admits that the children’s vitamin D levels were analysed just once, this being upon entry into the trial.